LocalAI
LocalAI is a self-hosted AI engine that runs text, voice, image, and video models on your own hardware, with built-in agents, for people who want to keep their data private.
What it is good for
- Running AI models on your own computer without sending data to the cloud
- Replacing paid AI API calls with a local server that copies the OpenAI API
- Building autonomous agents that use tools on your own infrastructure
- Running AI models on hardware without a dedicated graphics card
At a glance
- Who it is for
- Setup
- Install a desktop app or browser extension
Level 3 of 5. Download and install it like any other app or extension.
- Cost
- Free and open source
- Type
- Agent app
- Tasks
- Works with
- OpenAI API, Anthropic API, ElevenLabs API, Docker, Hugging Face, MCP
Momentum
- Rank this week
- Not ranked yet
- Best rank
- None yet
- GitHub stars
- 50,132
GitHub numbers as of Nov 2, 2026. Updated weekly.
Official links
Setup steps are on the official pages. We do not repeat them here, since they change.
Questions
- Is LocalAI free?
- Yes. It is free and open source (MIT license).
- Do I need to know how to code to use LocalAI?
- No. Download and install it like any other app or extension.
- What does LocalAI work with?
- According to its own documentation, it works with OpenAI API, Anthropic API, ElevenLabs API, Docker, Hugging Face, and MCP.
- What is LocalAI good for?
- Running AI models on your own computer without sending data to the cloud, replacing paid AI API calls with a local server that copies the OpenAI API, building autonomous agents that use tools on your own infrastructure, and running AI models on hardware without a dedicated graphics card.
Similar agents
- Hermes Agent
Hermes Agent is an agent app that remembers past work, builds reusable skills, and runs tasks on a schedule for people who want a personal assistant that improves over time.
- NanoClaw
NanoClaw is a self-hosted personal AI agent that runs in isolated containers and talks to you through messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and Discord.
- Letta
Letta is a platform for building stateful agents that keep memory and improve over time for developers building long-running AI assistants.
- OpenMausBot
OpenMausBot is an agent app that lets you run a team of AI bots in a chat app, each with its own model and cloud computer, for people who want an open-source alternative to Grok Bot.
- NullClaw
NullClaw is an agent app that runs a personal AI assistant on very small, cheap hardware for people who want a lightweight self-hosted assistant.
- KiroCrew
KiroCrew is a self-hosted development workspace that keeps agent work running between sessions for developers who want long tasks done unattended.