Routines - 2026 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

Routines is a local-first AI assistant for macOS and iOS that combines meeting intelligence, scheduled AI automations, and a personal knowledge base in one native app.

Core functions:

- Meeting notes: records your calls, transcribes them, and generates structured notes with summaries, decisions, and action items. Notes are editable, searchable, and can be regenerated.

- AI routines: natural-language automations that run on a schedule or on demand. Each routine can read from your connected tools, reason over your workspace, and produce briefings, reports, drafts, or to-dos.

- Second brain: a local markdown vault with automatic capture from meetings and chat, plus a Library for saving articles, videos, and posts with AI summaries.

- Chat: an assistant grounded in your meetings, notes, and connected tools, available from the menu bar, a global popover, and the iPhone app.

- Extras: system-wide voice dictation, clipboard history, and a to-do system with AI-generated prompts.

Integrations: Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Telegram, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, so routines can reach additional tools. The iPhone companion app syncs meetings, to-dos, and chat.

Architecture and security: native desktop app with local storage, workspace files kept on device in plain markdown, credentials stored in the macOS Keychain. AI runs with your own AI account or through the built-in Routines AI with usage-based billing. Optional cloud sync connects multiple devices.

Specs: macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon; iPhone app on the App Store. Free trial included.