New: Floating Chat, Llama 3.2, Chat with PDF, markdown and txt documents locally and offline
RecurseChat is a personal AI app for chatting with local AI offline and privately. Chat with local documents, chat with images, import ChatGPT history, perform advanced text search, and much more.
Features:
• Local first, Offline capable
Talk to AI offline and privately without complicated setup. No subscription.
• Zero-config setup
You don't need technical knowledge to configure local models. RecurseChat handles model downloads and serving. Supports Meta Llama 3.2, Llama 3.1, Meta Llama 3, Gemma 2, Mistral, Llava, WizardCoder Python and GPT-4/GPT-4o/GPT-4o mini/Claude 3.5/Claude 3 as default models, as well as custom GGUF and OpenAI compatible endpoints. Detailed model support information: https://recurse.chat/faq/#what-ai-models-does-recursechat-support
• Local document chat
Chat with local PDF, markdown and txt documents, completely offline. Attach, or just drag and drop your local doc in the chat UI, ask question specifically about your documents, and get detailed answers including citations of the original document. RecurseChat implements Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), and uses local embedding model and vector database.
• Full text search
Blazingly fast full text search over thousands of chat messages.
• Floating Chat
Chat with AI from your fingertips. Press ⌘ + ⇧ + Enter (customizable) to activate floating chat window from anywhere. Always on top, always ready.
• Import ChatGPT chat history
You can import all of your ChatGPT chat history, and continue your previous chats using either local models or GPT models. Ever want to find an old chat in ChatGPT? Just import the chat history and type in the search box.
• Beautifully designed
Chat with ease in a beautifully designed interface.
• Organize chats
Organize chats with bookmarks and folders. Supports nested folders.
• Edit and branch messages.
Edit messages and switch between different message branches freely. Imported ChatGPT messages also have branches preserved.
• Multiple models in the same chat session
You are not limited to one LLM in a chat session. Switch models in the middle of chat session.
• Multimodal chat
Supports image understanding model such as LLaVA.
• Use as a ChatGPT client
Not limited to local models. Supports bringing your own OpenAI API key. (* if you opt to use OpenAI key, you are subject to OpenAI's privacy policy. Details here: https://recurse.chat/privacy/). If you use the local document / RAG feature, you can still rely on the local embedding feature and only use the API for chat completion.
• Customizable
Customize your AI personality by changing the name. Adjust font family and font size to your preference.
• Bring your own GGUF
Link your local GGUF file and chat with it, or add models from Hugging Face Hub.
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/t3fyXbes
Support: https://recurse.chat/support/
EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/macapps/stdeula/
Privacy policy: https://recurse.chat/privacy/
This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Super Functional
chad.mckenna
I've been using RecurseChat as my primary tool for interacting with LLMs and its been perfect. Its simple and to the point, has all the features one might need: interacting with local LLMs (like the ones provided), chatting with Ollama models through the custom option, great way to interact with OpenAIs models, also provides RAG on local data. I've never had an issue with the UI, it just works. The developer is also super friendly and very helpful with any of my questions.
Developer Response
Thank you so much for your comprehensive review! Appreciate your support. Glad that you are finding RecurseChat useful for your workflows.
Excellent
mpmcfarlane
Good privacy commitments, very good app overall. I like being able to use on device and commercial API models in the same app. Built in RAG is great. Would like some more transparency on how/when RAG is used. I like that I can use a custom GGUF, but adding a few larger default models would be good too, so I didn't have to bother with the GGUF myself. Would also love to see Latex formatting support.
Developer Response
Thank you so much for your review! We will continue to commit to privacy. We are thinking about ways to enhance RAG usage customizability and visibility, but it might take some time to get to it. Latex support is pretty high on the priority list. (Edit: LaTeX rendering support is added in v1.1.10.) For default models, please feel free to email us at support@recurse.chat with the ones you would like to see.
Simple = good
nico schlaepfer
I work in the AI field. This would be something I recomend to most people. The simplicity and ease of use fits well on the apple eco system. The price is kinda high for the features offered, I hope there are updates to add more in the future. Like exposing a endpoint or Built in hugging face downloads. Either way great work!
Developer Response
Thank you so much for your support and recommendation, and taking the time to review! We are glad the app is helpful for you.Thank you for your feature suggestions, we will look into them. We are committed to improving the app. (Update: we have added support for adding a model directly from Hugging Face. For local endpoints, you can refer to the llama cpp server guide: https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp/blob/master/examples/server/README.md)If you have any additional feedback, please feel free to email feedback@recurse.chat.
Best Local AI Chat App Available
Disc Milk
It’s obvious upon use that this is the cleanest, most intuitive AI Chat app available for MacOS. It’s also a bonus that the team continues to add functionality via updates, as well as keep up with the incredibly fast pace of features that are requested.
- Added Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Sonnet 4.6, GPT-5.5, GPT-5.4 Mini and GPT-5.4 Nano.
- Added local Phi 4 and Gemma 4 E4B (multimodal) models.
- Updated the local llama.cpp engine.
- Right-click a chat in the sidebar and choose **Copy Link** to share a `recursechat://` URL that reopens the chat directly.
Thank you for choosing RecurseChat. We are committed to continue improving the app and make it more useful for you. For support requests and feature suggestions, please feel free to ask in the Discord server, email us at support@recurse.chat, or tweet at @recursechat. If you enjoy the app, leaving an app store review is a great way to support us.
Version 1.5.22
The developer, Xiaoyi Chen, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
RecurseChat LLC
Size
99.5 MB
Category
Productivity
Compatibility
Requires macOS 13.3 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
Mac Requires macOS 13.3 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
