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A step-by-step guide to choosing and setting up the right AI assistant for your needs — whether you want the convenience of cloud, the control of self-hosting, or the privacy of local AI.
What do you actually need an AI assistant for?
Before diving into specific tools, take a moment to clarify what you actually need. The right AI assistant depends on three key factors:
If you're just getting started → ChatGPT Free. If you work with long documents → Claude. If you live in Google Workspace → Gemini. If privacy is critical → Jan.ai or LM Studio. If you want full control → Open WebUI.
Easiest to start — open a browser and go
Cloud-based AI assistants are the easiest to get started with. No installation required — just open a browser and start chatting. Here's when to pick each one:
The most widely-used AI assistant. Excellent all-rounder with strong coding, writing, and reasoning capabilities. Massive ecosystem of plugins and integrations.
Best for:
Limitations:
Known for nuanced, thoughtful responses and an enormous context window. Excels at analysing long documents, research papers, and complex reasoning tasks.
Best for:
Limitations:
Google's AI assistant, deeply integrated with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Gmail, Drive). Excellent at multimodal tasks — images, video, and audio alongside text.
Best for:
Limitations:
Full control for power users and teams
Self-hosted solutions give you complete control over your data and customisation. They require more technical knowledge but offer the best balance of power and privacy for teams and power users.
A feature-rich, ChatGPT-style web interface that you host yourself. Supports Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs, making it incredibly flexible. User management, document uploads, web search — all under your control.
Best for:
Requirements:
A lightweight, privacy-first AI assistant designed for simplicity. OpenClaw runs entirely on your hardware with a clean, distraction-free interface. Ideal for users who want powerful AI without complexity or cloud dependencies.
Best for:
Requirements:
Maximum privacy — everything on your machine
Local AI assistants run entirely on your computer — no internet required, no data leaves your machine. They are the gold standard for privacy, though they trade some model quality for complete independence.
A beautiful, user-friendly desktop app that runs AI models locally. Download a model, click start, and chat privately — no account needed, no data sent anywhere. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Best for:
Requirements:
A powerful desktop app for discovering, downloading, and running local LLMs. Includes a built-in chat interface, local API server (OpenAI-compatible), and model performance benchmarking. The power user's choice for local AI.
Best for:
Requirements:
Local AI quality depends heavily on your hardware. Modern models like Llama 3 (8B) run well on 8-16GB RAM, but larger models (70B+) require 32GB+ RAM or a dedicated GPU. Apple Silicon Macs are particularly well-suited for local AI thanks to their unified memory architecture.
Get running in under 5 minutes
Pick based on your needs from the comparison above. If unsure, start with ChatGPT Free — it's the most versatile and has the largest user community for support.
Visit the website and sign up:
You can use Google, Apple, or email sign-in. No credit card required for free tiers.
Go to Settings → Custom Instructions (or System Instructions). Tell the AI about yourself:
"I am a [your role]. I prefer concise, actionable responses. When giving me instructions, use numbered steps. My interests include [topics]."
Try these starter prompts to see what your AI can do:
If you find yourself hitting free tier limits, consider upgrading. Paid plans unlock the best models, higher usage, and features like file uploads, web browsing, and image generation.
30-60 minutes, some terminal work needed
Docker is the easiest way to run Open WebUI. Install Docker Desktop from docker.com (available for Windows, macOS, and Linux).
Open your terminal and run:
docker run -d -p 3000:8080 \
--add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway \
-v open-webui:/app/backend/data \
--name open-webui \
--restart always \
ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:mainThis downloads and runs Open WebUI. First launch takes a few minutes to pull the container.
Install Ollama from ollama.com, then download a model:
ollama pull llama3
ollama pull mistralOpen WebUI will auto-detect Ollama models on startup.
Open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000. Create an admin account (stored locally). Start chatting with your models — everything stays on your machine.
Go to Settings → Connections → add your OpenAI API key. This lets you use GPT-4 alongside local models, all through the same interface. You get the best of both worlds.
10-20 minutes, no coding required
Visit jan.ai and download the installer for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux). No account needed.
Run the installer and launch Jan. You'll see a clean chat interface with a prompt to download your first model.
We recommend starting with Llama 3 (8B Instruct) — it's fast, capable, and fits on most machines. Click the download button and wait for it to finish (typically 4-5GB).
Select your downloaded model and start chatting. Everything runs locally — no internet needed, no data sent anywhere. Your conversations are stored only on your device.
What you'll actually spend
| Option | Free Tier | Paid Plan |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | Free (GPT-4o mini) | £20/mo (Plus) |
| Claude (Anthropic) | Free (limited Sonnet) | £18/mo (Pro) |
| Gemini (Google) | Free (Gemini 2.0 Flash) | £18/mo (Advanced) |
| Open WebUI | Free (self-hosted) | API costs only |
| OpenClaw | Free (self-hosted) | API costs only |
| Jan.ai | Free (local models) | N/A |
| LM Studio | Free (local models) | N/A |
Seasoned advice to level up your AI usage
Every major cloud provider offers a generous free tier. Use it to learn what you actually need before paying.
The quality of your AI output depends heavily on how you ask. Spend 30 minutes learning prompt basics — it multiplies your productivity.
Set your role, tone, and preferences once in your AI's settings. Every conversation will then be tailored to you from the start.
AI can hallucinate facts. Always cross-check critical information, especially for health, legal, or financial decisions.
Never paste passwords, API keys, or personal data into cloud AI tools. Use local options for anything confidential.
Most AI apps support voice input. Speaking your thoughts is often 3-5× faster than typing — great for brainstorming.
Save your best prompts in a document. Over time, you'll build a personal collection that dramatically speeds up recurring tasks.
Use Claude for analysis, ChatGPT for creative work, and a local model for private tasks. No single AI does everything best.