Alter vs Personal AI (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Alter if

• Fits if you work on a Mac and want an assistant that can see the window you're in
• Works for recording meetings on your own machine, with no bot joining the call

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you're on Windows or want it on your phone, because it's Mac only, macOS 14 or later
• Pricey if you want the managed models month to month, at $29 against $240 for the year
• Not for you if it's for work, as the terms grant the license for personal, non-commercial use
• Watch out: unlimited means fair use, and past a monthly budget your requests go to lower-cost models
• Tight if you use several machines, since every plan is one user with one device in active use at a time

Pick Personal AI if

• Fits if you are a carrier or enterprise looking at an AI memory layer
• Works for developers who want a memory service behind their own AI

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a price you can read, as pricing is scoped with sales
• Not for you if you want to try it free, as no free plan or trial is listed
• Too light on public detail for a solo buyer, as the pages focus on enterprise deployments
• Watch out: its benchmark claims were measured on a carrier network and this directory has not checked them

Alter

• It runs on macOS 14 or later only. iOS, Android and Windows are mentioned only as possible future platforms.
• The 2,000+ remote tools, model routers and managed access to cloud models are limited to Pro and Lifetime; the free plan needs your own API keys or local models.
• Unlimited use is subject to fair use: past a monthly budget, requests are routed to lower-cost models.
• All plans are single-user licenses with one device in active use at a time, and the terms grant the license for personal, non-commercial purposes.

Personal AI

• No public prices were found. The pricing page says deployments are scoped with the sales team, and the pages offer Talk to Sales and a carrier briefing.
• The current pages focus on enterprise and carrier deployments, so a self-serve consumer plan for My AI could not be confirmed.
• Only a web sign-in is visible on the pages read, and no apps or browser extensions are listed.
• The model page cites production benchmarks measured on a carrier network, which this directory has not checked.

Alter

Screen and app context

Alter reads what is on screen and in the active app, so a request can refer to the current window, file, email or web page, and the answer can be inserted straight into that app.

Voice commands and dictation

Speech-to-prompt and dictation work in more than 50 languages with automatic detection. Local+ and Pro use faster models that transcribe in real time.

Meeting recordings

Records online and in-person meetings without a bot joining the call, then produces summaries and reports you can chat with. Speaker identification needs Local+ or Pro.

Actions and automation

More than 80 built-in actions and your own custom ones run on the current context. Pro connects 2,000+ remote tools such as Gmail, Notion and Linear alongside Apple Calendar and Mail.

Your keys, local models or managed access

Use your own API keys, run models locally with Ollama or LM Studio, or let Pro route requests across 50+ cloud models, which are also exposed through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

Workspaces and files

Workspaces group and index files and folders for reference, and chats accept PDF, XLSX, DOCX and other files. YouTube transcripts are summarized without a browser extension.

Personal AI

My AI

An assistant described as remembering every conversation, learning your preferences and building a long-running relationship, with no setup or configuration.

Persona Studio

A no-code builder for defining a persona's personality, knowledge domains, memory behavior and guardrails, backed by Memory Core.

Memory Core

A memory and context service for developers that encodes, stabilizes, recalls and evolves persistent memory for AI applications.

Carrier-network deployment

MODEL-4 is deployed on an operator's own network under a single agreement covering deployment, licensing and support.

Security claims

The platform page says it is SOC 2 and HIPAA certified and GDPR compliant, with TLS 1.2+ in transit and AES-256 encryption at rest. These are the vendor's claims.

Alter

• Free$0

  Every core feature with your own API keys or local models. Dictation and meeting recording run on the slower standard Whisper model.

• Local+$29

  per year, or $3.50 billed monthly

  Adds real-time local speech-to-text models (Whisper Pro and Parakeet V3) for dictation and meeting recordings, with speaker identification. Up to 3 devices.

• Pro$240

  per year, or $29 billed monthly

  Unlimited requests to 50+ cloud models under fair use, model routers, the API gateway, unlimited meeting recordings and 2,000+ remote tools.

• Lifetime$720

  one-time payment

  The same access as the subscription plan with no recurring billing, plus future platform upgrades. Single user, one device in use at a time.

Personal AI

Pricing could not be confirmed. See personal.ai.

Alter

• Annual discount

  Save 30% with yearly billing

  Alter's pricing page lists a 30% saving on yearly billing: Pro is $240 a year against $29 a month, and Local+ is $29 a year against $3.50 a month.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime license for $720

  A one-time payment gives permanent access at the same level as the subscription plan, including future platform upgrades, for a single user.

• Education

  Student and academic discount

  Students and academics can request special pricing by emailing Alter from a university address. The amount is not published.

• Nonprofit

  Non-profit discount on request

  Non-profit organizations can request special pricing by emailing Alter with documentation. The amount is not published.

Personal AI

No public discounts listed.