Chatbox

One clean desktop app for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and local models.

Editorially reviewedChecked Oct 2026How we review·10 visited this week

chatbots#practical-oss#open-source#self-hosted#chat-ui

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Free plan Self-hosted Offline mode

Toolglade’s take

Chatbox is one of the easiest ways for a non-technical person to get a proper desktop or mobile AI app that works across providers and stores data locally. It is best for individuals who already have API keys or run Ollama; it is not a team knowledge base or enterprise search tool, and it still relies on whichever models you connect it to. Note the open-source build is the Community Edition and a separate commercial app exists.

Should you use Chatbox?

Biggest strength: Simple installable apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, plus a web version
Biggest weakness: Bring-your-own-key: you still pay providers separately and must manage API keys (or run local models yourself)
Pricing: Free plan
Top alternative: Jan · see all

Facts & pricing last checked October 2026. How we review

About Chatbox

Chatbox is a desktop and mobile app for chatting with many AI providers, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and local models through Ollama. Your conversations are stored locally, giving you one tidy place for all your AI chats.

Chatbox is a free desktop and mobile app for chatting with AI models, acting as one friendly client for many providers instead of a separate website per service. It connects to OpenAI (ChatGPT), Azure OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini and local models through Ollama (Llama, Mistral, and others), and adds conveniences like Markdown and LaTeX rendering, code highlighting, image generation, a reusable prompt library and keyboard shortcuts. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, with iOS and Android apps and a web version too. A key selling point is privacy: your chat data is stored locally on your device rather than on a server, and you use your own API keys (or local models) so conversations stay under your control. Chatbox is used by individuals who want a clean, installable AI client, people experimenting with local models, and anyone who prefers a native app over browser tabs. The open-source Community Edition is released under the GPL-3.0 license.

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Pros & cons

Pros

Simple installable apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, plus a web version
Works across many providers (OpenAI, Azure, Claude, Gemini) and local models via Ollama
Stores your data locally on-device for privacy, using your own API keys
Handy productivity features: prompt library, Markdown/LaTeX, code highlighting and shortcuts
Free Community Edition and no complex deployment required to start

Cons

Bring-your-own-key: you still pay providers separately and must manage API keys (or run local models yourself)
It is a single-user chat client, not a team collaboration or enterprise-search platform
The open-source Community Edition is synced alongside a separate paid/pro app, so not every feature is necessarily in the free build
GPL-3.0 licensing imposes copyleft obligations on anyone redistributing modified versions