Private AI, compared
Private AI chat apps compared: how each one handles your chats.
“Private AI” can mean three things: the AI runs on your own computer, the company running it is locked out of your chats, or the company commits to not keeping, training on, or selling what you send. Below is what each app does, and its limits.
We make Bearly, one of the apps below. Each entry reports what the company says on its own pages, checked October 14, 2026; we haven’t audited them.
Bearly
The leading models in one app, with end-to-end encrypted chats and ZDR mode.
Bearly puts Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, web, and Chrome, with deep research, a code interpreter, meetings, and computer use. Your chats are end-to-end encrypted on your devices, and we store and sync only the locked copies. With ZDR mode on, every chat model you can pick runs with zero data retention. Bearly doesn’t train AI models on your chats, shows no ads, and doesn’t sell your data. Both protections are in Privacy & Security.
Limits: Each message still goes to the model you pick, which reads it to answer.
Duck.ai
Chat without an account, with identifying details removed before the AI provider sees your message.
Duck.ai works without signing up. DuckDuckGo removes identifying details before your message reaches the AI provider, and its providers agree to delete chats after replying and never train on them, with a few exceptions DuckDuckGo lists.
Limits: Free chats use smaller models. The newest Claude and GPT models on Duck.ai need a paid DuckDuckGo plan.
Duck.ai privacyChecked October 14, 2026
LM Studio, Ollama, and Jan
The model runs on your own computer.
Each app downloads an open model and runs it on your machine. LM Studio says nothing you type in a chat leaves your device, and it works offline once a model is downloaded. Ollama doesn’t see your prompts when you run models locally. Jan is free, open source, and works offline.
Limits: They need a capable computer and some setup, and they run only open models your computer can handle. Ollama and Jan also offer cloud models, and those chats leave your computer.
LM Studio offline guideOllama FAQJan docsChecked October 14, 2026
Confer and Maple
Chats are encrypted on your device and processed in sealed server hardware.
Both encrypt your messages on your device and unlock them only inside sealed server hardware that’s designed to keep the company out, even while the AI writes its answer. Both publish their code and a way for outside experts to check what the servers run.
Limits: Both run open models (Maple lists Kimi, GLM, DeepSeek, and others); neither offers Claude or Gemini.
Confer private inferenceMaple proofChecked October 14, 2026
Lumo
Proton’s assistant, with saved chats Proton can’t read.
Lumo is Proton’s assistant. Saved chats use zero-access encryption, so Proton can’t read them, and Proton doesn’t train AI on your conversations unless you choose to send feedback.
Limits: Proton’s servers still see each message while answering it, and Lumo runs Proton-hosted open models such as Qwen, GLM, and Apertus rather than Claude, GPT, or Gemini. Free accounts keep history for 7 days.
Lumo privacyLumo securityLumo plansChecked October 14, 2026
Brave Leo
An assistant built into the Brave browser, with history kept on your device.
Leo is built into the Brave browser. Brave doesn’t train on your chats, discards them on its servers after answering, and keeps your history and memories on your device.
Limits: Leo runs inside Brave, and some models need Leo Premium.
Brave LeoLeo modelsChecked October 14, 2026
Kagi Assistant
Several AI models next to Kagi Search, without your account passed to the provider.
Kagi Assistant comes with a Kagi subscription and offers GPT, Claude, Gemini, and other models next to Kagi Search. Kagi doesn’t pass your account to the AI provider, doesn’t train on your chats, and deletes threads after 24 hours of inactivity unless you keep them.
Limits: The AI providers keep their own copy for a while; Kagi lists 30 days for OpenAI and Anthropic. Premium models need the top plan.
Kagi AssistantKagi provider retentionKagi plansChecked October 14, 2026
Venice
A privacy level set per model, from a relay to end-to-end encryption.
Venice calls itself private and uncensored AI. Each model has a privacy level: a relay that hides who you are, no-storage contracts, or sealed hardware with end-to-end encryption. Your chat history stays on your device.
Limits: The strongest modes work only with some models and need Venice Pro, and end-to-end encrypted chats turn off web search and memory. In Anonymous mode, Venice says to assume the provider keeps your content.
Venice privacy modesChecked October 14, 2026
What a cloud AI chat can and can’t promise
An AI model has to read your prompt to answer it. In a cloud app, privacy comes down to what happens around that moment:
- Whether the AI provider keeps a copy, and for how long.
- Whether anyone trains AI on your chats.
- Who can read your saved history.
- Whether the provider knows who’s asking.
Local apps avoid the question by running the model on your computer. Confer and Maple run it in sealed hardware built to keep the company out. Everyone else, Bearly included, relies on its own policies and its contracts with AI providers, so look for them in writing and check which settings they need.
In Bearly, our AI proxy doesn’t store your prompts or the answers, and with ZDR mode on, every chat model you can pick runs with zero data retention. End-to-end encrypted chats are stored only as locked copies.
For the technically curious
Encryption at rest protects stored chats from someone who gets the disk. Who holds the key matters: Bearly’s end-to-end encrypted chats, Lumo’s zero-access encryption, and Duck.ai’s Sync & Backup encrypt saved chats with keys the company doesn’t have. None of them covers the moment a model processes your prompt.
Encryption in use is what Confer and Maple do. A trusted execution environment (TEE) is an isolated area of a server’s hardware, and remote attestation lets your device check a signed measurement of the code inside before sending anything. Venice offers TEE models on Pro, Duck.ai runs gpt-oss and Gemma in Tinfoil’s TEE, and Brave has tested TEE inference in its Nightly browser.
Zero data retention (ZDR) is a contract term: the provider processes a request and doesn’t keep it. It limits storage, not who sees the prompt while it’s processed. Bearly’s ZDR mode covers the models that write chat replies; the ZDR guide explains what runs separately.
Private AI questions
What is the most private AI chat?
Check four things: whether your chats train AI models, how long the app and its AI providers keep them, who can read your saved chats, and whether your prompt leaves your computer. Bearly doesn’t train AI models on your chats. With ZDR mode on, every chat model you can pick runs with zero data retention, and end-to-end encrypted chats are stored only as locked copies. Your prompt still goes to the model you pick, which reads it to answer.
Is ChatGPT private?
It depends on your settings. OpenAI doesn’t use Temporary Chats to improve its models, but may keep them for up to 30 days for safety. Regular chats follow your account’s history and training settings. Bearly offers GPT models too, and with ZDR mode on, every chat model you can pick runs with zero data retention.
Which private AI apps offer Claude, GPT, and Gemini together?
Bearly and Kagi Assistant offer models from all three. Duck.ai and Brave Leo offer Claude and GPT among their models. What each one promises about storage and training, and which plan each model needs, is in its entry above.
The leading models, with ZDR mode on.
Bearly gives you Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app. Turn on ZDR mode in your privacy settings, and Bearly shows only zero-retention chat models.
Comparing for work rather than privacy? See ChatGPT alternatives and the AI assistant comparison. Spotted something out of date? Send the product and the page that shows it to support@bearly.ai.