Hob vs sideOS
Hob and sideOS are both AI assistants tools. Hob is aimed at freelancers and small businesses, while sideOS is aimed at freelancers and developers. Only Hob has a free plan.
Free open-source desktop AI coworker that runs models on your computer
Voice-driven Mac agent in the notch with local dictation and meetings
| Pricing | Open source | Paid |
| Starting price | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Small businesses, Developers | Freelancers, Developers, Small businesses |
| Platforms | macos, windows, linux | macos |
| Country | — | — |
| 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 sideOS if
Mac professionals who want a private voice agent, dictation and meeting notes in one app they pay for once.
- One-time licence with all future updates and no subscription
- No account and no sideOS server between you and the model
- Dictation and meeting transcription stay on the Mac
Look elsewhere if: Windows or mobile users and teams that need shared meeting notes or admin controls (Granola, Raycast).
Hob vs sideOS pricing
Hob
- Free$0MIT licensed, no account, subscription or usage limits
sideOS
- Lifetime licence$89.90One-time; one Mac at a time, every future update included
- AI model usageVariesPaid to your own provider, about 2 to 5 cents per command
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
sideOS · Key features
- Hold-to-talk agent that reads the screen, clicks, types and runs AppleScript
- On-device dictation into any app in 62 languages at no extra cost
- Meeting recording for Zoom, Meet and Teams with on-device Whisper and speakers
- Background tasks with web search, file access and approved shell commands
- Reminders that can complete a task before they fire
- One-click MCP connections for Gmail, Calendar, Notion, Slack and GitHub
Cons
- Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later only
- Agent use adds API costs unless you run a local model
- No free trial or refund window stated on the site
Hob vs sideOS: FAQ
Do Hob and sideOS have a free plan?
Hob has a free plan. sideOS has no free plan.