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Privacy-focused artificial intelligence alternatives

Explore privacy-focused AI alternatives to ChatGPT, Copilot, and other cloud-first assistants, with Basil AI featured where on-device meeting intelligence matters.

Privacy Risk

Why people switch

When using cloud-based AI services, the data you input is often collected and stored by the service provider. This may include not only the content of your requests but also metadata, such as timestamps or IP addresses. Third-party servers may grant access to your data to their employees, partners, or even other users, depending on their privacy policies. Data may be used for various purposes, including model training, research, or even marketing activities. Your requests to a third-party AI service may be tied to your user information and payment details, linking your data to your identity.

Subtopics Covered

What this category includes

  • ChatGPT
  • Copilot
  • ElevenLabs Text To Speech
  • Midjourney
Popular Apps To Replace

Default choices that deserve a second look

Editorial Shortlist

Privacy-focused options worth evaluating

These are not every option in the source list. They are the clearest starting points for people who want better privacy, portability, and control.

ChatGPT

Jan

Jan is an open source alternative to ChatGPT that runs 100% offline on your computer.

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ChatGPT

llama.cpp

Inference of Facebook's LLaMA model in pure C/C++ so it can run locally on a CPU.

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ChatGPT

LocalAI

Self-hosted, community-driven simple local OpenAI-compatible API written in go. Can be used as a drop-in replacement for OpenAI, running on CPU with consumer-grade hardware.

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ChatGPT

ollama

Get up and running with Llama 2 and other large language models locally.

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ChatGPT

PasteGuard

Privacy proxy for LLM APIs that masks PII and secrets before they reach cloud providers. Self-hosted, OpenAI-compatible, and restores original data in responses.

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ChatGPT

Shimmy

Privacy-focused AI inference server with OpenAI API compatibility, zero cloud dependencies, and local model processing.

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ChatGPT

Tinfoil

Verifiably private AI Chat and OpenAI-compatible inference in the cloud. Uses NVIDIA confidential computing and open source code pinned to a transparency log for end-to-end verifiability.

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Copilot

Continue

Open-source autopilot for VS Code and JetBrains—the easiest way to code with any LLM

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Evaluation Criteria

What to look for

  • Prefer products with clear data ownership, export options, and transparent retention policies.
  • Prioritize local-first or on-device processing when the workflow captures meetings, notes, audio, or collaboration history.
  • Check whether the product depends on trackers, mandatory accounts, or hidden cloud processing before rolling it out broadly.
Where Basil Fits

Keep the meeting layer private too

Basil AI belongs in this conversation because it keeps meeting audio, transcripts, and summaries on your device instead of routing them through a cloud workspace. If you are evaluating privacy-focused tools for notes, AI, speech, or collaboration, Basil gives you a private path for the meeting layer itself.

See how Basil handles private transcription →

Keep Your Meetings Private with Basil AI

100% on-device processing. No cloud. No data mining. No privacy risks.

Download on the App Store

Free to try • 3-day trial for Pro features