deep-live-cam vs chatbox
Two of the top projects in Desktop AI apps, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
deep-live-cam
Real-time webcam face swap from a single source image
chatbox
Desktop and mobile chat client for OpenAI, Claude, Gemini and Ollama models
Verdict
deep-live-cam ranks higher, 75 to 59. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, deep-live-cam leads on 2, chatbox on 1 and 2 are even.
- Adoptiondeep-live-cam leads by 64 points, 95 to 31: a wide gap.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- Maintenancedeep-live-cam leads by 14 points, 89 to 75.
- Easy to runEven at 50.
- Agent-readychatbox leads by 15 points, 15 to 0: a wide gap.
Pick deep-live-cam if you are
Creators and streamers wanting local real-time face swapping on a webcam
- Live webcam mode plus image and video file processing from one GUI
- Execution providers for CPU, CUDA, CoreML, DirectML and OpenVINO
Pick chatbox if you are
Users who want a local-first desktop chat client for API and Ollama models
- Installers for Windows, macOS, Linux (AppImage), plus iOS, Android and a web version
- Supports OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Ollama and ChatGLM-6B from one client
| What we compare | deep-live-cam | chatbox |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 95, widely used | 31, known |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 89, healthy | 75, fair |
| Easy to run | 50, easy | 50, easy |
| Agent-ready | 0, none | 15, none |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 97k | 42k |
| License | AGPL-3.0 (copyleft) | GPL-3.0 (copyleft) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| Last release | Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Docker | No | No |
| GPU | Optional | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Mentioned | Mentioned |
deep-live-cam
Deep-Live-Cam is a Python desktop GUI that swaps a face from one source image onto a webcam feed, video or image, using ONNX models (inswapper_128_fp16, gfpgan-1024). It supports mouth masking, mapping different faces to multiple subjects, and CPU, CUDA, CoreML, DirectML and OpenVINO execution providers. A paid pre-built edition with extra features is sold on the project website.
Who it is for: Creators and streamers wanting local real-time face swapping on a webcam
Strengths
- Live webcam mode plus image and video file processing from one GUI
- Execution providers for CPU, CUDA, CoreML, DirectML and OpenVINO
- Mouth mask and face mapping for multiple subjects in one frame
- Needs only a single source image, no per-face training
Weaknesses
- Manual install needs Python, ffmpeg, CUDA/cuDNN pinning; README says not for beginners
- CPU-only mode is slower; live preview takes 10-30 seconds to appear
- Command-line arguments are marked unmaintained in the README
- insightface models are limited to non-commercial research use
- GPU optional
- Needs Python 3.11-3.14, ffmpeg, onnxruntime, CUDA Toolkit 12.8 (NVIDIA), tkinter, OBS (for streaming output)
- Models: inswapper_128_fp16.onnx, gfpgan-1024.onnx, ONNX
chatbox
Chatbox is an Electron app (TypeScript, React) that connects to hosted LLM APIs and local models through Ollama. Chat data is stored on the device. It ships installers for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus iOS and Android apps and a web version.
Who it is for: Users who want a local-first desktop chat client for API and Ollama models
Strengths
- Installers for Windows, macOS, Linux (AppImage), plus iOS, Android and a web version
- Supports OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Ollama and ChatGLM-6B from one client
- Chat data stays on the device; no server deployment needed
- Prompt library, Markdown, LaTeX and code highlighting, DALL-E-3 image generation
Weaknesses
- README lists no document chat, RAG or agent features
- Community Edition is synced with a separate pro repo; feature parity is unclear
- Provider list in README is dated (llama2, ChatGLM-6B); current coverage is unclear
- GPL-3.0 license may restrict embedding in proprietary products
- no GPU
- Needs Ollama (optional, for local models), API keys for hosted providers
- Models: OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Claude, Google Gemini Pro, Ollama
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