SillyTavern Alternatives (2026): On iPhone, With No Install, or With Local Models

A SillyTavern alternative is anything that does part of SillyTavern’s job without making you run SillyTavern. The useful question is which part. SillyTavern is a server you install and run, a front end you configure, and a connection to a model you supply. Every alternative removes one or more of those three jobs, and gives up something in return.

That is why lists of “SillyTavern alternatives” are so hard to use. They put a browser app, a local model runner and a hosted chat site in the same ranking, when each one solves a different problem. This page sorts them by the problem instead: what you are trying to stop doing, and what you give up by stopping.

Everything here is checked against each project’s own site, documentation or source repository as of 25 September 2026. We have not scored any of these tools; this is a map, not a ranking. If you are happy with SillyTavern and something has broken, our SillyTavern troubleshooting guide is the better page. If you have never used it, the SillyTavern guide explains what it is first.

The Short Answer

What you want to stop doing	Where to look	What you give up
Running a server, but keep your own model or key	RisuAI (web, desktop, Android) or Agnai (web)	SillyTavern’s extension ecosystem
Using SillyTavern on an iPhone	RisuAI’s web version, Agnai, or KoboldAI Lite in Safari	A native app (except Backyard AI, which is hosted)
Setting up two programs for local models	KoboldCpp, one file with its own chat interface	SillyTavern’s depth of settings
Setting anything up at all	Hosted sites: Backyard AI, Janitor AI, Perchance, Chub AI	Control over the model, and often your data

The rest of the page explains each row, and the trade-offs in each one.

First: What SillyTavern Actually Asks of You

Knowing what the alternatives replace makes the choice easier. Running SillyTavern means doing three separate jobs:

Running a server. SillyTavern is a Node.js application that you install and start yourself. Your chats, characters and settings live on that machine. The documentation is direct about phones: iPhones and iPads “are not capable of running the whole SillyTavern app,” so on iOS SillyTavern is always a web page connected to a server somewhere else. Our SillyTavern mobile guide covers both phone routes in detail.
Supplying a model. SillyTavern does not include a model. You connect it to one: a paid API, an OpenRouter account, or a model on your own hardware through a backend like KoboldCpp or Ollama. As our local models guide puts it, a local setup is always two pieces, a backend and a front end.
Configuring the front end. Presets, prompt templates, lorebooks, extensions. This is where SillyTavern’s reputation comes from, and it is exactly what drives some people away.

Each alternative below removes one or more of those jobs. None of them removes all three and still gives you everything SillyTavern does. That is the trade-off.

Stop Running a Server: RisuAI and Agnai

If what bothers you is installing and maintaining a server, and especially if you want to play on a phone, the closest replacements are front ends that run in a browser. You still bring your own model or API key. You just stop hosting anything.

RisuAI

RisuAI is the closest like-for-like SillyTavern replacement, and the only one here that runs on almost everything. Its own site lists Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and the web. The desktop builds are current: the latest release, v2026.8.250, came out on 25 August 2026 with installers for Windows, macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon) and Linux, and the repository was last updated on 23 September 2026. The web version needs no install, so it works in Safari on an iPhone.

The feature list, from the project’s README, covers most of what people use SillyTavern for:

Multiple APIs: OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, DeepInfra, Ooba, OpenRouter and more.
Lorebooks, described as “also known as world infos or memory book.”
Group chats with several characters.
Long-term memory through its own memory systems, HypaMemory and SupaMemory, which compress older conversation to keep it in context.
Regex scripts that rewrite the model’s output, which people use to build custom interfaces inside the chat.
Automatic translation of input and output, text-to-speech, emotion images that change with the character’s expression, plugins and themes.

RisuAI also has its own character-sharing site, RisuRealm, where people publish characters and worlds. Its landing page describes the design aim as serving both kinds of user: a simple interface for light users, with emotion images, custom prompt templates, prompt injection and long-term memory available “without confusing the light users.”

If you want to host it yourself, the README gives a one-line Docker setup that serves RisuAI on port 6001. It is open source under GPL-3.0.

What you give up: SillyTavern’s extension ecosystem, which is larger than anything else in this space, and the familiarity of the guides and presets written for it.

Agnai

Agnai (also called Agnaistic) is a browser front end with one feature none of the others have: several human users in the same chat. Its README lists “Group Conversations: Multiple users with multiple bots” as a headline feature. If what you want from SillyTavern is shared roleplay with friends, that matters more than anything else on this page.

It runs at agnai.chat, and it can also be self-hosted: it is published as an npm package (npm install agnai -g) and as a Docker image. It supports a long list of services, including Kobold, NovelAI, AI Horde, OpenAI, Claude, Replicate, OpenRouter and Mancer. It also has memory and lore books, AI character generation, image generation through third-party services, and several character-description formats (W++, square-bracket format, Boostyle and plain text). Optional features add long-term memory and document embedding.

Two practical notes before you move a large collection into it:

Anonymous data lives in your browser. The README says that anonymous users’ data is saved in the browser’s local storage, is not shared between devices, and is deleted if you clear the browser’s data. If you plan to keep characters there, make an account or keep your own backups.
Development has slowed. As of 25 September 2026, the most recent commit on the public repository was dated 13 June 2026. The site still works, but check the project is still active before you depend on it.

It is open source under AGPL-3.0, and is based on early work from PygmalionAI’s Galatea UI.

Stop Running Two Programs: KoboldCpp

If you run local models, SillyTavern is the second of two programs: a backend that runs the model, plus SillyTavern as the front end. The simplest way to drop down to one is to use the backend’s own interface.

KoboldCpp describes itself as “One File. Zero Install.” It is a single download for Windows, macOS or Linux that loads a GGUF model and opens a chat interface in your browser: KoboldAI Lite, which is built in. According to its README, that interface includes memory, world info, an author’s note, characters and scenarios, with four modes: chat, adventure, instruct and storywriter. Adventure mode is the one for text-adventure play, in the style of AI Dungeon.

A Note for Former Backyard AI Users

Many “local SillyTavern alternative” searches come from one group of people: Backyard AI desktop users. Backyard AI (previously called Faraday) was for a long time the easy way to run local models behind a friendly character-chat app. Its desktop app is now deprecated. Backyard’s download page says so directly: “The desktop app is deprecated and no longer supported,” and points users to the web version. The installers are still there, but nothing new will ship for them.

The current Backyard AI is a different kind of product: a hosted service (see below). If what you liked was running your own model, KoboldCpp is the nearest replacement that is still maintained, and RisuAI can also connect to a local backend.

Stop Setting Anything Up: Hosted Services

The last option is to stop supplying a model at all. A hosted service runs the model for you. You open a website or an app and start. This is the only kind of alternative with no setup, and it is also the one that changes the most.

Backyard AI now runs on the web and as a native iOS app, with Android listed as “coming soon.” Its plans page lists three tiers:

Plan	Price	Messages	Models	Context
Free	$0	300 per week	1 included model	16k tokens
Standard	$12/month	Unlimited	6 Standard models (8B–12B)	16k tokens
Pro	$35/month	Unlimited	Standard models plus Pro models up to 104B	Up to 100k tokens

The plan comparison also lists group chats with up to four characters, voice calls, lorebooks and advanced sampler settings. Its FAQ says it does not censor or filter what the models generate, and applies community guidelines to what is shared on its public hub. The plans page lists only Backyard’s own hosted models. It does not describe connecting your own API key.

The other hosted options are already in our directory:

Janitor AI has a huge community character library and its own free model, and can also connect to a model you supply. Our Janitor AI proxy guide explains how.
Perchance’s AI Character Chat is free, needs no account, and runs in any browser. It is the fastest way to start, and the least structured.
Chub AI has one of the largest character-card libraries, and works either with its own hosted models or with your own key. We compare it with SillyTavern directly in Chub AI vs SillyTavern.

What you give up: control. On a hosted service the provider decides which models exist, how much context you get and what the limits are, and it can change any of them. Your chats also live on someone else’s server rather than yours. For some players that is a fair trade for starting in thirty seconds. For others it is the reason they used SillyTavern in the first place. Our data custody audit looks at what different platforms let you take with you.

If You Actually Want a Game

One more possibility is worth naming. Some people looking for a SillyTavern alternative are not really looking for a better front end. They want what they have been trying to build with lorebooks, stat blocks and presets: a game with rules, memory and a world that pushes back.

Every tool on this page, including SillyTavern, is a chat front end. None of them provides game structure. You build it yourself, or you do without it. If that is the actual goal, the dedicated AI RPG platforms are a different category, and our guide to the best AI roleplay platforms maps them. It is not a better SillyTavern. It is a different answer to the question.

How to Choose

You like SillyTavern but hate hosting it, or want it on your phone: RisuAI first. It is the closest match, current, and on every platform.
You want to play with other people in the same chat: Agnai, which was designed for several users at once. Check its activity first.
You run local models and want fewer moving parts: KoboldCpp and its built-in KoboldAI Lite.
You used Backyard AI’s desktop app: it is deprecated. KoboldCpp for local models, or Backyard’s web version if you are happy with hosted.
You want no setup at all: a hosted service, accepting that the provider controls the models and holds your chats.
You actually want a game: leave chat front ends behind and look at AI RPG platforms.

Whichever you pick, the model you connect to matters as much as the front end. Our best LLM for roleplay guide covers that side.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best SillyTavern alternative? It depends on which part of SillyTavern you want to stop doing. If you want the same kind of front end without running a server, RisuAI and Agnai both run in a browser and take your own API key. If you run local models and want less setup, KoboldCpp is one file with its own chat interface built in. If you want no setup at all, a hosted service such as Backyard AI, Janitor AI or Perchance supplies the model for you, and you give up control in exchange.

Is there a SillyTavern alternative for iPhone? Yes. SillyTavern’s own documentation says iPhones and iPads cannot run the whole app, so on iOS you either connect to a SillyTavern server running somewhere else or use something that runs in a browser. RisuAI has a web version, Agnai runs at agnai.chat, and KoboldAI Lite runs at lite.koboldai.net. Backyard AI has a native iOS app, but it is a hosted service rather than a front end for your own model.

Is there a SillyTavern alternative that runs local models? KoboldCpp is the simplest. It is a single file for Windows, macOS or Linux that loads a GGUF model and opens its own chat interface, KoboldAI Lite, with memory, world info, an author’s note and chat, adventure and story modes. RisuAI and Agnai can also connect to a local backend. Backyard AI used to be the easy local option, but its desktop app is deprecated and no longer supported.

What happened to the Backyard AI desktop app? Backyard AI’s desktop download page now labels the app deprecated and no longer supported, and sends users to the web version at backyard.ai. The desktop app was the version that ran models on your own computer. The current service runs its own hosted models on the web and in an iOS app, with a free plan of 300 messages a week and paid plans at 12 and 35 dollars a month.

Is RisuAI better than SillyTavern? They are built for different users rather than one being better. RisuAI puts a simpler interface on top of many of the same ideas, including lorebooks, group chats, regex scripts and long-term memory, and it runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and the web. SillyTavern has the larger extension ecosystem and more settings. If SillyTavern’s setup is what stops you, RisuAI is the closest like-for-like replacement.

Is Agnai still being developed? Agnai is still online at agnai.chat and its code is open source, but development has slowed. As of 25 September 2026, the most recent commit on its public repository was dated 13 June 2026. It still works as a browser front end, and it is the only option here built for several human users in one chat, but check it is still active before you move a large collection into it.