Recall

Recall is a personal AI knowledge base for saving, summarizing, organizing, and connecting articles, videos, podcasts, PDFs, and notes. Users can chat with their saved material, the open web, or both, using models including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Recall automatically links related content in a knowledge graph and can bring those links back while users browse. It can also create quizzes and use spaced repetition to support review. The MCP server connects with Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini CLI, but currently offers read-only access to a user's knowledge base. Recall says it does not use user data for advertising, profiling, or AI training; augmented browsing is processed locally without sending browsing data to its servers. Users can access, export, or delete their data, and offline access is available. The Free plan includes 10 AI summaries per month, unlimited saved content and notes, and API and MCP access. Plus costs $10 a month billed yearly; Max costs $38 a month billed yearly. Recall supports web, mobile, and browser extension platforms.

Recall combines a saved-content library with chat, knowledge linking, and review tools. Its read-only MCP access and plan limits are worth considering alongside the ways it supports organizing and revisiting material.

Recall may suit researchers, students, writers, founders, operators, and lifelong learners who want to build and revisit a personal library of saved material. It also offers connections to several AI assistants and tools through its MCP server.

Recall is a personal AI knowledge base for turning saved reading, viewing and listening into a connected library. It is best for researchers, students, writers, founders and lifelong learners who revisit material over time. The free tier is generous for storage, but frequent AI-assisted work requires a subscription.

Overview

Recall brings articles, videos, podcasts, PDFs and notes into one searchable personal workspace. Instead of stopping at bookmarks or folders, it adds summaries, chat, automatic relationships and review exercises. That makes it a better choice for building a working research or learning archive than for simple document storage.

You can chat with saved knowledge, the open web, or both, using models including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. This is useful when an answer needs your own accumulated context alongside outside information. Recall also supports offline access, data export and deletion, giving users practical control over a library that may grow over years.

Key features

Recall accepts a broad range of material and includes a web clipper, AI summaries, AI note search and audio transcription. Its knowledge graph automatically links related content and can bring those links back while you browse, helping larger collections become more useful than a chronological bookmark list.

Quizzes and spaced repetition turn saved content into an active review system. Students and lifelong learners gain a structured way to revisit ideas; readers who only want to file articles may find these tools unnecessary.

The MCP server connects the knowledge base to Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini CLI. Access is currently read-only, so connected assistants can retrieve information but cannot write back to Recall; write capabilities are described as coming soon. Recall says it does not use data for advertising, profiling or AI-model training. Augmented browsing is local-first, with processing on the device and no browsing data sent to Recall's servers.

Pricing

Free is suitable for building a substantial library while using summaries sparingly; the 10-summary monthly cap is restrictive for regular research. Plus removes that bottleneck and adds the core chat, graph and review tools, making it the practical choice for active individual users. Max is aimed at heavy workflows that benefit from personal onboarding, model choice and larger batch operations. Paid subscriptions can be canceled at any time, with access continuing through the current billing period.

Platforms

Recall is available on the web, iOS and Android, with extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. It also offers an API and MCP access, and supports offline use. This combination suits people who collect material across browsers and mobile devices while keeping integrations available for developer-oriented workflows.

Who it's for

Researchers and founders can use the connected library and cross-source chat to maintain an evolving knowledge base. Students and lifelong learners benefit most from quizzes and spaced repetition. Writers and creators gain a searchable source archive with transcription and summaries. It is less compelling for teams seeking a collaborative knowledge system or for anyone who only needs basic notes and bookmarks.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Broad capture support: Articles, video, podcasts, PDFs and notes can live in one library.
• Active recall tools: Quizzes and spaced repetition make review more deliberate than ordinary search.
• Flexible AI access: Chat can combine saved knowledge with the open web and supports several major models.
• Privacy and portability controls: Recall states that it avoids advertising, profiling and model training, while allowing export and deletion.
• Generous storage on Free: Saved content and notes are unlimited even though AI summaries are capped.

Cons

• Free AI limit: Ten summaries per month can run out quickly for serious reading programs.
• Read-only MCP: Connected assistants cannot yet add or modify knowledge through the server.
• Annual billing: Plus and Max prices are monthly rates billed yearly, requiring a longer commitment than month-to-month pricing.
• Individual focus: The product is designed as a personal knowledge base rather than a documented team workspace.

Alternatives

AI Knowledge Base Software is the broader category to explore when you want to compare this style of tool with other knowledge systems.

AI Note-Taking Apps are a better starting point if note creation matters more than building a media-rich, review-oriented archive.

Note-taking apps suit readers seeking a wider range of conventional note tools.

ProProfs Knowledge Base is worth choosing when a freemium knowledge base with a Windows option and page-based free allowance fits better.

Korra is an alternative for users who need self-hosted or desktop-platform coverage and a free tier capped by storage.

Nuclino fits teams wanting a free workspace with item, canvas and storage limits.

Sana AI is aimed at workspaces using agents, meetings and chat quotas rather than a personal saved-content archive.

Guru, Moveworks and Bloomfire are paid, organization-focused knowledge products with custom or undisclosed pricing.

Slite is a paid document workspace with unlimited docs, per-user storage and a monthly question allowance.

Verdict

Choose Recall if you want one personal system for saving mixed media, asking questions across your library and the web, and revisiting what you learn. Plus is the sensible plan for regular AI use; Free works for light summarising and unlimited collection. Look elsewhere if you need collaborative team knowledge management, write-enabled MCP integrations now, or prefer a conventional notes app without annual paid billing.