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Best self-hosted and local AI companions
Companion apps you can run on your own machine or against your own model, so no conversation has to leave your hardware.
If you want total control and zero subscription, this is where the advanced users live. Best for: Running your own companion UI with your own model.
The best pick for people who will actually fill in the backstory — lazy setup buys you a chatbot. Best for: One consistent companion with a detailed backstory.
Formerly text-generation-webui: not a companion app, but the plumbing most local companion setups are built on. Best for: Running local models with a browser UI.
A lighter alternative to SillyTavern that runs in a browser tab with no install. Best for: Character card chat without installing anything.
The easiest way to run a local companion without touching a terminal. Best for: Local companions with a friendly interface.
Free, offline and surprisingly good at persona consistency for a local app. Best for: Offline character chat with zero cost.
Free and genuinely capable, with chat memory and multi-bot scenes. Best for: Free character chat with real memory control.
The classic offline story engine: clunky, but it never phones home. Best for: Offline story writing on your own hardware.
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How many apps are on this list?
8 apps meet the criteria for “Best self-hosted and local AI companions”. We would rather publish a short, honest list than pad it with apps that only half fit.
Which one should I pick first?
SillyTavern tops this list with an editorial score of 4.3 out of 5 and costs Free. That is a starting point, not a verdict — the card under each entry says who it actually suits.
What is the cheapest option here?
SillyTavern, at Free — and 8 of the 8 listed apps have a free tier you can try first.
Can I sort these by something else?
Yes. The category pages carry the full five-way filter — medium, orientation, price, platform and sort — and the numbers on this list match the numbers there, because both are computed from the same catalogue.