LibreAI / AI Chat / chatbox
// ai-chat · chatboxai/chatbox

chatbox

Powerful AI Client

★ 41.9k stars⑂ 4.3k forksGPL-3.0updated 2026-09
▦ visual — this project's README ships no embeddable screenshot,
so here's a placeholder. The guide below is complete regardless.
// project facts

Project facts

chatbox is an open-source ai chat project by chatboxai (chatboxai/chatbox on GitHub). It has 41,934 GitHub stars and 4,269 forks, is released under the GPL-3.0 license, and was last updated on GitHub on 24 September 2026.

GitHub stars
41,934
Forks
4,269
License
GPL-3.0
Last updated on GitHub
24 September 2026
Category
AI Chat
Listing
Full install guide
Official site
Official site
// how it works

How it works

  1. Install the runtime

    One binary or app gets you a working local model setup.

  2. Download a model

    Pick a size that fits your RAM/VRAM; smaller models run on laptops.

  3. Chat or integrate

    Use the built-in UI, or point OpenAI-compatible clients at it.

  4. Go private

    Airplane mode works — your prompts never leave the device.

// features

Why people love it

100% private

Prompts and documents stay on your hardware, always.

Extensible

RAG, tools, and agents build on the same base.

Quantized efficiency

Smart compression runs big models on modest hardware.

Offline capable

Works on planes, in basements, behind firewalls.

Model choice

Swap between hundreds of open models freely.

OpenAI-compatible APIs

Existing tools plug in by changing one URL.

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// run it

Run it yourself

  1. Step 1 — Clone the repo

    Download the source and move into the project folder.

    git clone https://github.com/chatboxai/chatbox.git
    cd chatbox
  2. Step 2 — Check the README

    Every project documents its own setup; start with install requirements.

    cat README.md | head -60
  3. Step 3 — Run it

    Follow the project's launch command — Docker, pip, npm, or a binary release.

    # see README for the exact launch command
// use cases

What you can build

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// faq

Questions, answered

Who maintains chatbox?

It is an open-source project at chatboxai/chatbox with 4,269 forks. Check the repo's contributors and recent commits to see how active maintenance is.

Is chatbox free for commercial use?

GPL-3.0 — free to use, but derivative works must stay open.

Which model should I start with?

A recent 8–32B instruct model is the sweet spot for most machines.

Is it really private?

Yes — with no network calls, there's nothing to leak.

Are local models as good as GPT-4?

Close on many tasks now; frontier cloud models still lead on hard reasoning.

// keep exploring

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// alternatives

Alternatives in AI Chat

The most-starred other AI Chat projects in the LibreAI catalogue — the realistic shortlist if chatbox is not the right fit.

Get chatbox

Free and open — grab the source, star the repo, and start creating.