SillyTavern alternatives: characters without running your own server

The Morse teamPublished October 25, 2026Facts checked October 22, 20269 min read

The best SillyTavern alternatives as of October 2026 are Morse, if you want characters with nothing to install and your chats kept encrypted on your device; Agnaistic, RisuAI, and KoboldAI Lite, if you want to stay close to the open-source Tavern world; and Janitor AI, if you want a large library of user-made bots. Each one removes the part SillyTavern leaves to you, which is running the server. What differs is where your chats end up once you stop running it.

We read SillyTavern's documentation and GitHub page on October 22, 2026, along with each alternative's own site, repository, and privacy policy the same day. SillyTavern is free and open source, and its README is direct about what it is: "We do not provide any online or hosted services, nor programmatically track any user data" (SillyTavern).

SillyTavern alternatives compared, as of October 22, 2026

Every cell about another app links to that app's own page.

What does SillyTavern need to run?

A computer that can run Node.js 20 or later, and a model. SillyTavern calls itself "a locally installed user interface" and says that "since SillyTavern is only an interface, you will need access to an LLM backend to provide inference." The hardware bar for the interface is low, but for a local model it recommends "a 3000-series NVIDIA graphics card with at least 6GB of VRAM" (SillyTavern).

Some guides that rank for this query still give Node.js 18 as the minimum. SillyTavern's own docs say 20, as of October 22, 2026.

You choose the backend separately. SillyTavern's docs list local options (KoboldCpp, llama.cpp, Ollama, TabbyAPI, and others) that "are free to use and have no content filter," and cloud APIs (OpenAI, Claude, Google AI Studio, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, and more) that "all have content filtering of varying degrees, and most require payment" (SillyTavern). We cover what running a model locally takes in our guide to using AI privately.

Can you use SillyTavern on your phone?

Yes, two ways, and both need some setup. On Android, SillyTavern runs natively in Termux. Its guide says to install Termux from F-Droid or GitHub, "avoid installing Termux from the Google Play Store, that version is no longer maintained," then install Node.js and Git and clone the repository. Because of "hardware limitations on Android devices," it suggests turning on lazyLoadCharacters and turning off the disk cache (SillyTavern).

The other way is to keep the server on your computer and open it from your phone's browser on the same Wi-Fi network. By default, though, "the ST server only accepts connections from the machine that it's running on," so you edit the whitelist first. To reach it from outside your home, SillyTavern's docs say "you should not use port forwarding" and suggest a VPN or a tunnel such as Tailscale instead (SillyTavern).

Where does SillyTavern store your chats, and is that safe?

In a folder on whichever machine runs the server, ./data by default (SillyTavern), and not encrypted by SillyTavern. Its multi-user guide says: "All user data (including chat history, API keys, and other sensitive information) is stored in plain text on the server." It adds: "Do not use SillyTavern on a public server or with untrusted users" (SillyTavern).

On your own computer, that's fine for most people: the folder is as safe as the device, and the README promises no tracking. Renting a server changes that. One Railway template offers SillyTavern with "no Node.js, no install, any device," keeps chat history on a Railway volume, and says that without the basic-auth settings it recommends, anyone with your Railway URL can reach your instance (Railway). SillyTavern's own docs say basic authentication "does not provide strong security" (SillyTavern). SillyTavern itself turns on automatic chat backups by default, so copies of your chats sit beside the originals (SillyTavern).

Who should stay on SillyTavern?

Anyone with a capable GPU who wants a model that never leaves the house. With a local backend, SillyTavern is about as private as AI chat gets: no account, no company in the loop, and data in a folder you can back up with Download Backup from the user menu (SillyTavern). It's also the right pick if you want its extension system, a model the alternatives don't offer, or to read the exact prompt sent to the model in SillyTavern's terminal (SillyTavern).

Which SillyTavern alternatives need no setup?

Agnaistic

Agnaistic describes itself as "AI Agnostic (Multi-user and Multi-bot) Chat with Fictional Characters." It's AGPL-3.0, hosted at agnai.chat, and can be self-hosted with npm or Docker. Without a database, it runs in "Guest Only" mode, and a guest's data stays in that browser's local storage, which clearing your browser data deletes. It connects to Kobold, NovelAI, AI Horde, OpenAI, Claude, OpenRouter, and Mancer (Agnaistic). Its repository has no privacy policy of its own.

RisuAI

RisuAI calls itself "cross platform AI chatting software / web application," licensed GPL-3.0, with risuai.net as the recommended way in (RisuAI). It supports OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, DeepInfra, OpenRouter, and others. One comparison ranking for this query says RisuAI has packaged iOS and Android apps; RisuAI's own site lists Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, and Web (RisuAI). Its privacy policy, applied from September 19, 2024, covers only your ID and password and says nothing about where chats go (RisuAI).

KoboldAI Lite

KoboldAI Lite is the lightest option: "All functionality is in a single static HTML file," it reads Tavern-format character cards, and it connects to KoboldCpp, OpenAI, Claude, or the AI Horde (KoboldAI Lite). The Horde is free because volunteers run the models. Its FAQ answers whether workers can see your prompts with "Technically, yes," adding that workers "cannot see their ID or IP," and that the Horde deletes prompts "shortly after the generation is delivered or cancelled" (AI Horde).

Janitor AI

Janitor AI is fully hosted, with an account, a built-in model, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Its JLLM is "the default model used in Janitor unless you've hooked up an external one via API" (Janitor). Your chats sit with JanitorAI Inc., and a proxy adds two more companies. We go through its policy in Janitor AI alternatives.

What changes when you move from a local install to a hosted service?

Someone else runs the server. With SillyTavern on your own machine, the plain-text folder, the API keys, and the backups are yours to guard. Most hosted alternatives remove the setup by keeping your chats on their own servers, under their own policy, or, like RisuAI's policy, without saying. The browser-only tools keep chats local but leave the backend question, and the API key, with you.

How Morse gives you characters without a server to run

Morse runs the app, so there's no Node.js, no Termux, and no tunnel. Your history still lives with you, as it did on SillyTavern.

• No install. Morse is a web app with three surfaces: Chat, Characters for roleplay and companion chats, and Studio for images. Send a message from the home page without an account; sign up with an emailed code or Google to keep chats.
• Chats kept on your device, encrypted. Your character chats, the characters you make, your personas, and your settings are stored in your browser, encrypted, which SillyTavern's data folder isn't. Unlocking them takes two keys: one that never leaves your device, and one our server gives you when you sign in. Our servers don't keep messages or log their content (privacy policy).
• No API keys to store. Over 30 models, open and closed, come with one account, so there's no key sitting in a folder.
• No training, no selling, no ads. Morse doesn't train AI on your content, sell your data, or show ads.

In Chat, each conversation runs in a privacy mode you pick:

• Private, the hosted stand-in for a local model. Open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM run on hosts that agreed to keep nothing: Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers.
• E2EE, for when you want nobody else reading at all. Your browser checks the secure enclave's hardware proof, then seals each message so only that enclave can read it, as long as the enclave hardware and attestation work as designed. The enclaves are run by third-party providers, not by Morse. E2EE chats come with Pro, $19 a month. We explain the checks in end-to-end encrypted AI chat.
• Anonymous, in place of your own OpenAI or Claude key. Our proxy removes your account, email, and IP address, so GPT, Claude, or Gemini answers without knowing it's you. The provider may keep a message for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy.

The Free plan costs $0, needs no card, and has no cap on character messages, with the model picked for you, plus 15 Chat messages a day. On paid plans, picking an unfiltered model gives answers other apps refuse, including dark fiction. Morse is for adults only, and character chats show crisis lines when a message reads like suicidal thinking, checked on your device. Your chat history is stored only in your browser, encrypted, not on Morse's servers, so clearing your browser deletes it and we can't recover it; keep a copy of any story you want to hold onto, the way you'd back up a SillyTavern folder.

Choose SillyTavern or Morse

• Choose SillyTavern if you have a GPU for a local model, want its extensions, and are happy to run and secure a server yourself.
• Choose Agnaistic, RisuAI, or KoboldAI Lite if you want an open-source Tavern-style front end in the browser and will bring your own backend.
• Choose Janitor AI if you want a large library of user-made bots and mobile apps, and you're comfortable with a company holding your chats.
• Choose Morse if you want characters with nothing to install, chats stored encrypted on your device instead of in a plain-text folder or a company's database, no API keys to manage, and no training, selling, or ads.

How we compared them

We read every page linked above on October 22, 2026, and took each project at its written word. We didn't install SillyTavern, create accounts on the other services, or run any chats for this page. Where a project's own pages don't say where chats are stored, the table says so.

Start free, or send a message from the Morse home page without an account first.

Morse publishes this comparison. We've tried to keep it fair; if something's wrong or out of date, email hello@trymorse.ai.

SillyTavern is an open-source project. Morse is not affiliated with or endorsed by the SillyTavern project.