The best BoltAI alternatives for Mac

BoltAI calls itself a private AI workspace for Mac power users. It's a native Mac app where you chat with many models in one place: projects, multiple threads, forked chats, reusable agents and a prompt library. A global shortcut opens an overlay over any app, you can edit text inline, dictate a request, or capture the screen and get an answer about it. It connects local and remote MCP servers and runs local models through Ollama or LM Studio.

The catch is in its model: BoltAI includes no AI credits. You connect your own accounts with the AI providers and pay them for what you use, or run models on your Mac. Its site says chats are stored on your Mac, never used for training, and requests go straight from the app to the provider you pick. It runs on macOS 13 or later, on Intel and Apple silicon, with an iPhone and iPad app in beta and Windows coming soon.

We make Koi, the first pick below, so read this with that in mind. Prices and features for every app come from their own sites, checked October 21, 2026, in USD.

BoltAI is a one-time purchase with a year of updates, and a 14-day free trial (BoltAI pricing):

• Essential: $79, one desktop device.
• Pro: $99, two desktop devices and one mobile device.
• Pro+: $199, three desktop devices and two mobile devices.
• Team: $99 a seat, five seats at least.

After the first year the app keeps working, but new updates, support, Cloud Sync and mobile access stop unless you renew, at 40% off the original price for individuals. Students get 50% off the first year. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee. On top of that you pay your AI providers, unless you run everything on local models.

• Two bills. The licence, then whatever your AI providers charge, plus a renewal each year if you want updates and sync.
• Keys to manage. You sign up with providers and paste API keys. Great for control, tiring if you just want answers.
• It's a chat app. You type into a window or an overlay. If you'd rather talk and hear the answer, it isn't built for that.
• It answers in its window. It doesn't point at the button you need or draw on the screen.
• Windows is still coming soon.

In BoltAI, you bring the model and type:

1. Add an API key for a provider in BoltAI's settings, or point it at Ollama or LM Studio.
2. Press its global shortcut to open the overlay over any app.
3. Pick a model, type your question, or capture the screen to ask about it.
4. Read the answer, or apply an inline edit to the text you selected.

In Koi, there's nothing to set up but the app:

1. Tap Fn + ⌘ once and ask out loud, in any language.
2. Koi looks at your screen with the question and answers out loud.
3. Ask it to show you, and it circles the button or highlights the line. Ask it to fix the text you selected, and it rewrites it in place.
4. Ask for something to keep, like steps or a list, and Koi writes it on a page.
5. Stop talking, and the call ends by itself after seven quiet seconds.

Koi meters its AI and shows what's left as a percentage. Dictation and call recording are never counted, on any plan. See Koi's plans; Lifetime is $59 for the first 25 buyers, rising to $199.

With BoltAI, chats stay on your Mac and requests go straight to the provider you chose, under that provider's terms. On local models, nothing leaves.

With Koi, every call is saved as a page on your Mac, and what Koi remembers stays there too. During a call, your voice goes to the AI provider, with a picture of the screen unless you switch that to only when you ask, or never, and no id for you or your account. Our server keeps what each call cost and none of what was said or shown. The trust page lists it all.

• Want to talk instead of type, with no keys or provider bills? Koi.
• Want many models with credits included, in a launcher? Raycast AI.
• Want local models with a lifetime option? Msty Studio.
• Want it free and open source? Jan.
• Want voice and actions, free with your own keys? Alter.

More: the best AI assistants for Mac, what Mac AI apps cost, and Elephas alternatives.