Beam vs Hob
Beam and Hob are both personal productivity tools. Beam is aimed at developers and creators, while Hob is aimed at freelancers and small businesses. Both have a free plan.
Open individual windows from one Mac as native windows on another
Free open-source desktop AI coworker that runs models on your computer
| Pricing | Freemium · $12 | Open source |
| Starting price | $12/mo | Not published |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Developers, Creators, Freelancers, Small businesses | Freelancers, Small businesses, Developers |
| Platforms | macos | macos, windows, linux |
| Country | — | — |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Beam if
Developers and creators with two Apple silicon Macs who want a remote app to behave like a local window instead of a full screen share.
- Uses one remote app without taking over the whole desktop
- Window traffic goes directly between your Macs, not through Beam's servers
- Free plan has no card requirement and no limit on host Macs
Look elsewhere if: People who need to reach Windows or Intel machines or control a whole remote desktop across platforms (Jump Desktop, Parsec).
Choose Hob if
Professionals and small teams who want a Claude-style desktop assistant for files and documents without sending data to the cloud.
- Completely free and MIT licensed with no account
- Chats and files stay on your computer, no telemetry
- Picks and installs a suitable model automatically
Look elsewhere if: Users who need the strongest reasoning or team features, or who have low-memory machines (Claude, ChatGPT).
Beam vs Hob pricing
Beam
- Free$0Host unlimited Macs, join share links, 20 minutes a day of use
- Monthly$12/moUnlimited use on every Mac you own, send share links
- Yearly$84/yrSame as Monthly; works out to $7/mo billed annually
- Lifetime$199One-time payment, all future updates, direct connections
- Team$12/seat/moOr $84/seat/yr; 20% off from 10 seats, one invoice
Hob
- Free$0MIT licensed, no account, subscription or usage limits
Beam · Key features
- Single windows from another Mac open as native windows with Dock and Command-Tab entries
- Beam several windows at once or share an entire display
- Direct typing, shortcuts, two-way resizing, app audio and clipboard sync
- Works with headless Mac minis and Mac Studios that have no display
- Encrypted Mac-to-Mac connection on local Wi-Fi or over Tailscale
- Guest share links open one window in any browser, view-only by default
Cons
- macOS only, with Apple silicon and Sonoma or later required on both Macs
- Free use is capped at 20 minutes a day
- Devices without the Mac app, such as phones, only get browser links
Hob · Key features
- Automatic hardware check and download of a fitting open-weight model
- Works on attached files or project folders with their own instructions
- Sandboxed Python with pandas, openpyxl and on-demand PyPI packages
- Reads PDFs including scans and fills PDF forms on Mac
- Image understanding with a local Qwen vision model
- Local metasearch web search and on-device dictation
Cons
- Local models are weaker than frontier cloud models on hard tasks
- Needs at least 8 GB RAM and 10 to 25 GB of disk
- PDF form filling is Mac only
Beam vs Hob: FAQ
Do Beam and Hob have a free plan?
Yes, both Beam and Hob have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.