Hob vs ShogunAI
Hob and ShogunAI are both AI assistants tools aimed at freelancers and small businesses. Only Hob has a free plan.
Free open-source desktop AI coworker that runs models on your computer
Mac assistant that remembers your work and drafts in your voice
| Pricing | Open source | Paid · $62 |
| Starting price | Not published | $62/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | — | 7 days |
| Built for | Freelancers, Small businesses, Developers | Freelancers, Small businesses |
| Platforms | macos, windows, linux | macos |
| Country | — | JP |
| Rating | — | — |
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).
Choose ShogunAI if
Consultants, founders and managers on Apple silicon Macs who want one searchable memory of their work and drafting in their own voice.
- Strong privacy controls: exclusions, pause and time-range deletion
- Uses your own AI provider or installed CLIs
- Nothing is sent without your approval
Look elsewhere if: Windows users or anyone who only needs meeting notes or a fast launcher (Granola, Raycast).
Hob vs ShogunAI pricing
Hob
- Free$0MIT licensed, no account, subscription or usage limits
ShogunAI
- Standard$62/moPassive capture, recall, cross-app search; $49/mo yearly
- Pro$124/moMemory in other AI tools, action approval; $99/mo yearly
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
ShogunAI · Key features
- Passive capture of your work with sources kept
- Ask questions across mail, meetings and notes
- Hold right Option to draft text in your own voice in any app
- Live meeting notes with recap and next steps, no audio stored
- Two-way live translation and voice dictation
- Daily brief with schedule, priorities and meeting prep
Cons
- Mac only, Apple silicon and macOS 14 or newer
- High price for a personal tool
- AI provider costs are paid separately
Hob vs ShogunAI: FAQ
Do Hob and ShogunAI have a free plan?
Hob has a free plan. ShogunAI has no free plan, a 7-day free trial.