Best Private Local AI App for Mac and Windows in 2026 (Runs on Your Computer and Remembers Your Work)

The best private, local AI app for Mac and Windows in 2026 is Off Grid AI. It runs models on your own computer with chat, images, voice and file answers for free. With Pro it also remembers your meetings, screens and mail, on your disk, and acts only after your yes.

It needs no account and works offline. We make Off Grid AI. Every rival fact below comes from its own pages, checked 30 October 2026.

Download Off Grid AI · Get Pro for $79.99 once

Chat in Off Grid AI Desktop, answered by a model on the computer.

How we ranked

Private by design. Models run on your computer. No account.
Mac and Windows. Ideally Linux too.
Useful beyond chat. Images, voice, files and memory.
Fair price. Free for local use, and a paid plan that stays cheap.

The ranking at a glance

	Computers	Free for local use	Images and voice	Memory of your work	Paid plan over 3 years
1. Off Grid AI	Mac (Apple silicon), Windows, Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes, with Pro	$79.99 once, 5 devices
2. LM Studio	Apple silicon Mac, Windows, Linux	Yes	Local dictation in Bionic	Bionic searches its own sessions	$720 (Bionic+)
3. Msty	Mac, Windows, Linux	Yes, Studio Free	Media Studio	Not listed	$447 yearly, or $349 once
4. Jan	Windows, macOS, Linux	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
5. Ollama	macOS, Windows, Linux	Yes	Images experimental, macOS only	Not listed	$600 (cloud Pro, yearly)
6. AnythingLLM	Desktop, Docker	Core apps free	Not listed	Not listed	Not checked

{: .vs-table}

"Not listed" means the app's own pages don't list it. "Not checked" means our check didn't cover it.

1. Off Grid AI

Free on your computer. Chat with open models such as Qwen, Llama, Gemma and Phi. Make images on your GPU. Speak your prompt and hear the answer. Drop in a PDF and get answers that cite the page. Point your own apps at the OpenAI-compatible API at 127.0.0.1:7878.

Pro remembers your work. Off Grid AI Pro builds a searchable memory of what you do: meetings recorded without a bot, the screens you saw, your documents and your mail. Ask "what did we decide about pricing on Tuesday?" and get the answer with its source. It all lives in a local database on your disk.

Pro acts, after your yes. It drafts replies in Gmail and updates in Linear, Jira and Notion, then waits for you to approve each one. A morning brief lists what needs you today.

Also in Pro. Dictation into any app, Vault for passwords and keys, Clipboard history, Sync between your devices, and video made on your computer.

Price. Free. Pro is $79.99 once (limited time, regular $119) or $7.99 a month, for up to 5 devices.

Runs on. Mac (Apple silicon), Windows and Linux. It uses Metal on a Mac, and CUDA on NVIDIA or Vulkan on AMD and Intel.

2. LM Studio

What it is. A polished app for running local models, with MLX on Macs and a headless server build.

Best for. Trying many models, and MLX on a Mac.

Where Off Grid AI wins. Images, voice out, a phone app and a memory of your work for $79.99 once. See Off Grid AI vs LM Studio.

3. Msty

What it is. A local AI workspace with Knowledge Stacks and Media Studio. Aurum is $149 a user a year, or $349 once.

Best for. A workspace that mixes local and hosted models.

Where Off Grid AI wins. A memory of your meetings and screens, actions you approve, and a lower one-time price for 5 devices. See Off Grid AI vs Msty.

4. Jan

What it is. A free, open-source local chat app.

Best for. Simple local chat.

Where Off Grid AI wins. Images, voice, files with citations and a phone app. See Off Grid AI vs Jan.

5. Ollama

What it is. A small runtime and CLI that many tools use as a backend.

Best for. Developers.

Where Off Grid AI wins. A full app, and image generation on every computer. Off Grid AI can also use your Ollama server as a remote model. See Off Grid AI vs Ollama.

6. AnythingLLM

What it is. A document chat app for desktop and Docker.

Best for. A shared document chat server.

Where Off Grid AI wins. Images, an iPhone app and a memory of your work. See Off Grid AI vs AnythingLLM.

Get started in five minutes

Download Off Grid AI Desktop for Mac, Windows or Linux.
Let it pick a chat model that fits your computer.
Ask something you'd never type into a cloud chatbot.
When you want it to remember your work, add Pro and let it start building your memory.

FAQ

What is the best private, local AI app for Mac and Windows?
Off Grid AI. It runs models on your own Mac or Windows PC, and on Linux, with chat, images, voice and file answers for free. With Pro it keeps a local memory of your work and acts only after your yes.

Which local AI app is the most private?
All six apps here run models on your computer. Off Grid AI needs no account and keeps its memory of your work in a local database on your disk.

Is there a local AI app that remembers my work?
Yes. Off Grid AI Pro builds a searchable memory of your meetings, screens, documents and mail on your computer, and answers with sources.

What is the cheapest paid local AI app over three years?
Off Grid AI Pro at $79.99 once for up to 5 devices. LM Studio Bionic+ is $720 over three years, Ollama cloud Pro $600 and Msty Aurum $447 yearly or $349 once.

Does it work on Intel Macs?
Off Grid AI's Mac build is for Apple silicon (M1 or later). Windows and Linux builds cover other computers.