Open-source alternatives to Character.AI

airi leads with 91, ahead of SillyTavern (70). Updated from public GitHub data.

The highest-scoring open-source projects in Chat UIs. They are picks, not exact replacements, so read the weaknesses before you switch. The same picks fit if you are leaving Character AI or Janitor AI.

No GPU needed
SillyTavern runs without one
Open-source alternatives to Character.AI
RankProjectScore
1airiAI VTuber companion with VRM and Live2D avatars, voice, and game-playing Live demo ↗ (opens in a new tab)Assistants51k starsMIT91 out of 100
2SillyTavernLocal chat front end for role-play across many LLM backendsChat UIs35.2k starsAGPL-3.070 out of 100

Reviews

191 out of 100

airi

AI VTuber companion with VRM and Live2D avatars, voice, and game-playing

Live demo ↗ (opens in a new tab)51k starsMITlast commit Nov 2026

AIRI is a TypeScript/Vue monorepo for an animated AI character modeled on Neuro-sama, with VRM and Live2D bodies, speech input and multi-provider TTS. It ships as a browser PWA, an Electron desktop app and an iOS Capacitor app. The character can chat on Discord and Telegram and play Minecraft and Factorio, using hosted LLM APIs or local servers such as Ollama, vLLM and SGLang.

Strengths

  • Runs as browser PWA, desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) and iOS app
  • Supports 25+ LLM providers via xsai, including Ollama, vLLM and SGLang
  • VRM and Live2D avatars with auto blink, look-at and idle eye movement
  • Desktop build uses CUDA or Apple Metal through candle without extra setup

Weaknesses

  • README describes development as early stage; plugin system is WIP
  • Memory system (Memory Alaya) and in-browser WebGPU inference are unfinished on the roadmap
  • Game-playing is uneven: Factorio is WIP and Helldivers 2 co-play is not done
  • No Docker or compose files; self-hosting means building the pnpm monorepo or using releases
  • GPU optional
  • Needs Node.js, pnpm
  • Models: OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, Ollama
270 out of 100

SillyTavern

Local chat front end for role-play across many LLM backends

35.2k starsAGPL-3.0last commit Sep 2026

SillyTavern is a locally installed Node.js 20+ interface for text-generation LLMs, image generators and TTS, aimed at character and role-play chat. One UI covers KoboldAI/KoboldCpp, Horde, NovelAI, oobabooga, TabbyAPI, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Claude and Mistral, with Visual Novel Mode, AUTOMATIC1111 and ComfyUI image generation, WorldInfo lorebooks and third-party extensions. No hosted service, no tracking.

Strengths

  • Runs on anything that can run Node.js 20; no GPU needed for the UI itself
  • Backends: KoboldCpp, Horde, NovelAI, oobabooga, TabbyAPI, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Claude, Mistral
  • WorldInfo lorebooks and deep prompt controls for long-form character chat
  • No hosted service and no telemetry; 300+ contributors over 3 years

Weaknesses

  • AGPL-3.0 license
  • Single-user local tool; no accounts or team features
  • Maintainers describe the learning curve as steep
  • Installation and Docker instructions live only on the docs site
  • no GPU
  • Docker + Compose
  • Models: KoboldAI/KoboldCpp, Horde, NovelAI, oobabooga, TabbyAPI