cherry-studio vs dsh-desktop
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.
cherry-studio
Cross-platform desktop chat client for many cloud and local LLM providers
dsh-desktop
Native Windows and macOS desktop client for DeepSeek Harness
Verdict
cherry-studio ranks higher, 79 to 73. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, cherry-studio leads on 2, dsh-desktop on none and 3 are even.
- Adoptioncherry-studio leads by 27 points, 89 to 62: a wide gap.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- MaintenanceEven at 86.
- Easy to runEven at 50.
- Agent-readycherry-studio leads by 15 points, 85 to 70: a wide gap.
Pick cherry-studio if you are
Individuals wanting one desktop client for many LLM providers and local models
- Supports cloud providers plus local Ollama and LM Studio in one client
- Runs the same prompt against multiple models in a single conversation
Pick dsh-desktop if you are
Windows and macOS users who want a packaged DeepSeek Harness app with plugins
- Installers for Windows x64 and macOS Universal, no separate Node.js install
- Runs a pinned, unmodified upstream DeepSeek Harness version
| What we compare | cherry-studio | dsh-desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 89, widely used | 62, popular |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 86, healthy | 86, healthy |
| Easy to run | 50, easy | 50, easy |
| Agent-ready | 85, ready | 70, partly |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 52.8k | 32.1k |
| License | AGPL-3.0 (copyleft) | MIT (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Docker | No | No |
| GPU | Optional | Not stated |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Mentioned | Mentioned |
cherry-studio
Cherry Studio is a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux that talks to cloud providers such as OpenAI, Gemini and Anthropic, and to local models through Ollama and LM Studio. It includes 300+ preset assistants, simultaneous multi-model chats, document handling (text, images, Office, PDF), WebDAV backup and an MCP server integration. An Enterprise Edition with admin backend and shared knowledge bases is sold separately.
Who it is for: Individuals wanting one desktop client for many LLM providers and local models
Strengths
- Supports cloud providers plus local Ollama and LM Studio in one client
- Runs the same prompt against multiple models in a single conversation
- Installs as a desktop app with no environment setup, on Windows, Mac and Linux
- 300+ preconfigured assistants plus custom assistant creation
Weaknesses
- AGPL-3.0; commercial use outside AGPL terms needs a separate license
- Admin backend, team knowledge base and access control are Enterprise-only
- Plugin system, OCR, TTS and ASR are listed as roadmap items, not shipped
- No Docker or web deployment; desktop only, so no multi-user server in Community Edition
- GPU optional
- Needs Ollama or LM Studio (optional, for local models), WebDAV (optional, for backup)
- Models: OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic, Ollama, LM Studio
dsh-desktop
DSH Desktop wraps the pinned, unmodified upstream DeepSeek Harness web UI, host service and plugin system in a native desktop app with window, tray, terminal and auto-update. The desktop shell is itself a DSH plugin, and the app includes a plugin market and phone remote control (iOS/Android, from 2.0.9). Installers cover Windows x64 and macOS Universal; no Node.js is needed.
Who it is for: Windows and macOS users who want a packaged DeepSeek Harness app with plugins
Strengths
- Installers for Windows x64 and macOS Universal, no separate Node.js install
- Runs a pinned, unmodified upstream DeepSeek Harness version
- Built-in plugin market and desktop services for third-party plugins
- Web service listens on loopback only by default
Weaknesses
- No Linux build listed
- LAN access option has no authentication, per the README
- Tied to DeepSeek Harness; independent project, not affiliated with DeepSeek
- README and docs are primarily in Chinese
- Needs DeepSeek Harness (bundled, pinned)
- Models: DeepSeek Harness models
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