Your Own AI
Your Own AI is a free, open-source desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux that runs AI models locally on your machine. It provides a private, offline-capable AI assistant with optional online frontier models. The application emphasizes privacy-first architecture, ensuring that conversations and data do not leave your device unless you explicitly choose to send them online. It includes features such as private memory, character creation, document interaction, and an OpenAI-compatible endpoint for integration with other tools. The app is licensed under AGPL and is designed to be highly extendable. It supports both offline-only and offline/online routing modes, allowing users to balance local privacy with access to frontier models when needed. Online models are accessed through Flowsta's relay, which strips identity and does not store messages. The application also provides cryptographically signed conversation records for verifiability. Your Own AI targets users who require strict data control, such as those handling sensitive documents, health information, or proprietary code. It also caters to developers and researchers who want to run AI models locally and integrate them into their workflows via an OpenAI-compatible API. The free tier is fully functional offline, with paid plans offering online frontier models and live web search.
- Category
- Private ChatGPT
- Pricing
- Free
Problem solved
Privacy-conscious users and organizations struggle to use powerful AI assistants without exposing sensitive data to third-party cloud services. Your Own AI solves this by running AI models locally on the user's own hardware, ensuring that conversations, documents, and memories remain private and under user control. It eliminates reliance on external servers for everyday tasks while offering optional, privacy-preserving access to frontier models when needed.
Use cases
- Talk with your documents privately and verify answers against source lines
- Code in your own building with AI that reads, edits, and runs commands in project folders
- Keep health questions and medical records on your device with models like MedGemma
- Create AI characters with personalities and memories that live on your machine
- Generate cryptographically signed receipts for AI work that anyone can verify
- Use the OpenAI-compatible endpoint as an engine for other apps like Hermes Agent or editors
- Run AI in offline environments such as planes, ships, or field sites
- Access frontier reasoning models only when needed via optional online routing
Audience
- Developers
- ML Engineers
- Data Scientists
- Business Users
- Researchers
Pros
- Open source (AGPL) for transparency and community verification
- Runs entirely offline for privacy and works without internet
- Optional online frontier models with privacy-preserving relay
- Private memory and customizable AI characters stored locally
- OpenAI-compatible endpoint enables integration with other tools
Cons
- Requires sufficient local hardware to run AI models
- Online frontier models incur additional costs beyond free tier
- Desktop only; no mobile or web versions mentioned
- Initial setup involves downloading models and configuring settings
Official website: https://yourownai.net/
Canonical LambdaBase page: https://www.lambdabase.com/tools/your-own-ai