Run your sidekick on your own machine
All the power of Sidekick Forge — locally hosted. Lower cost, full privacy, and features that only work when your sidekick lives on your hardware.
Why run Sidekick locally?
The cloud is great. Your own machine is sometimes better.
Cost savings
Use your own machine's CPU/GPU and your own API keys. No per-minute hosting fees, no marked-up inference. Run as much as your hardware can handle.
Full privacy
Conversations, documents, and embeddings stay on your machine. Pair with local LLM and STT/TTS providers for an end-to-end pipeline that never touches our servers.
Local-only features
Filesystem access, local app control, OS-level shortcuts, system notifications, and offline mode — things a cloud sidekick fundamentally can't do.
Cloud or Desktop — your choice
Both run the same sidekick. Pick the deployment that fits.
| Cloud | Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Instant — open a browser | Download & install |
| Hosting cost | Included in subscription | Free — uses your machine |
| Data location | Sidekick Forge servers | Your machine only |
| Works offline | No | Yes (with local models) |
| Local app control | No | Yes |
| Filesystem access | No | Yes (with permission) |
| Auto-updates | Always latest | One-click in-app |
| Multi-device sync | Built-in | Optional via your account |
System requirements
- macOS: 12 Monterey or newer · Apple Silicon or Intel
- Windows: Windows 10 or newer · x64
- Linux: glibc 2.31+ (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 34+, Debian 11+) · x86_64
- RAM: 4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended
- Disk: 500 MB for the app, more if running local models
Common questions
Do I still need a Sidekick Forge account?
Yes — your account is how the desktop app loads your sidekick's personality, tools, and knowledge.
Can I bring my own LLM / STT / TTS keys?
Yes. The desktop app lets you wire any provider — OpenAI, Anthropic, Deepgram, Cartesia, ElevenLabs, Ollama, and more.
Will my sidekick sync between cloud and desktop?
Configuration syncs through your account. Conversation history stays wherever it was created.
Don't have a sidekick yet?
The desktop app loads sidekicks you've built on Sidekick Forge. Start in the cloud, move to local whenever you're ready.
