SHSelfHostIndex

Enchanted vs Page Assist

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted local llm runners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
EN Enchanted Native Ollama client for iOS and macOS VS PA Page Assist Browser extension to use local AI models on the web
FeatureEnchantedPage Assist
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectRead-the-docs project
Health score85 · Excellent92 · Excellent
CategoryLocal LLM RunnersLocal LLM Runners
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageSwiftTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentbinarybare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 6,002★ 8,227
First released20242024
ReplacesChatGPTChatGPT

What are Enchanted and Page Assist?

Enchanted

Enchanted is an open-source, privacy-focused app that connects to a self-hosted Ollama server from Apple devices. It provides a native chat experience for private local models on the go.

  • Native Apple app
  • Connects to private Ollama
  • Conversation history
  • Prompt completions

Page Assist

Page Assist is a browser extension that adds a sidebar and web UI for interacting with local AI models. It can chat about the current web page and perform retrieval over its content using Ollama.

  • Browser sidebar chat
  • Chat with current page
  • Local model RAG
  • Works offline

Enchanted vs Page Assist: key differences

Enchanted is written in Swift, while Page Assist is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Enchanted versus MIT for Page Assist.

Why pick each one

Choose Enchanted if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
  • Written in Swift
Enchanted details

Choose Page Assist if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 8.2k GitHub stars
  • Written in TypeScript
Page Assist details

Frequently asked questions

Is Enchanted or Page Assist better?

Neither is universally better. Page Assist has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Enchanted and Page Assist free and open-source?

Yes. Enchanted is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Page Assist under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Enchanted and Page Assist with Docker?

Enchanted: check the project docs for container support. Page Assist: check the project docs for container support.

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