Backyard AI
A desktop companion app that downloads a model and runs it locally, with character chat built in. Formerly called Faraday.
- Hybrid
- Active
- Allowed adult content
- Freemium
At a glance
- Where it runs
- HybridBoth: run it yourself, or use the hosted version.
- Adult content
- AllowedAdult content is permitted within the published rules.
- Trains on your content
- UnknownNo clear statement found.
- Status
- ActiveMaintained and working today.
- Account needed
- No
- Licence
- Proprietary
- Cost
- Free local use; paid cloud tiers.
- What it keeps
- Local chats stay on the machine. The cloud tier is a different arrangement.
What it takes to run
- Graphics memory
- No GPU needed
- System memory
- 8 GB, 16 GB recommended
- Disk
- about 20 GB
- Runs on
- macOS, Windows
Find what fits your machine on the tools page — pick your hardware from the first menu.
The closest thing to a one-click local companion: install the app, pick a character, pick a model it suggests for your hardware, and talk. No separate backend to configure, which is the step that stops most people.
It is closed source, and it also sells a cloud tier — running locally is the default, but check which mode you are in.
Worth knowing before you start
- Closed source The local-only claim cannot be verified from the code.
- No Linux build macOS and Windows only.
What it does
- Bundled local model runner
- Character library
- Hardware-aware model suggestions
Signs of life
Checked automatically. These are the only figures on this page a machine wrote, and they say when they were taken.
- Last answered
- Yes, 3 hours ago Its website responded when we asked.
- Archived copy
- Wayback Machine A snapshot, in case this one stops answering.
Categories
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