Start with the workflow you need.

SecondBrain Pro fits quick personal capture and later recall. A custom AI backend is useful when you also want those memories in other tools.

Which setup fits?

Capabilities refer to SecondBrain Pro. This is not a ranking of competing products.
Your task	Suggested setup	Tradeoff
Save ideas on one device	Free with Local Only	No iCloud sync in this mode. Speech recognition may still use Apple servers.
Capture on Watch and find it on iPhone or iPad	Free with iCloud sync	Requires iCloud and network access for sync. Apple handles cloud storage.
Export notes or use premium playback voices	Standard	One-time upgrade. Check voice availability for your language.
Search by meaning and use memories from an MCP client	Premium with your own backend	Cloudflare setup, credentials and maintenance required. Provider usage may cost extra.
Create a full meeting transcript with speaker labels	Evaluate a dedicated meeting transcription tool	SecondBrain Pro focuses on personal memories; it does not promise speaker diarization.
Edit long documents or collaborate on team notes	Keep your document or collaboration workflow	SecondBrain Pro is designed for personal capture and recall.

Try before upgrading

Save a real thought, tag it and find it in Recall. Test AI Chat if your device supports Apple Intelligence. Choose an upgrade only when you need its additional capabilities.

Try SecondBrain Pro free Requirements and tier details