Brethof AI Reviews

Cherry Studio Desktop review

Any model, your own documents, no account needed

Not sponsoredModels & AI Infrastructure · AI Agents

Tested on Linux · Free · Open source

Cherry Studio is a free, open source desktop chat app for dozens of model providers, including Ollama. Chats and keys stay on your machine. We tested version 2.1.7 on Linux with a cloud model through our local Ollama.

The good

  • Ollama, no account. Ollama is built in, address filled in, no key. It lists your models and their skills, and needs no sign-in.
  • PDF chat two ways. Attach a PDF and its text goes into the message, with no citations. Or build a knowledge base that searches by keywords and cites its sources.
  • Plain AGPL, one .deb. The licence is the standard AGPL with nothing added, and Linux gets a deb, an AppImage and an RPM. Every answer shows its speed and time to first token.

The not so good

  • Welcome screen pre-ticks reporting. The welcome screen's privacy box starts ticked, sending the maker usage data with a client ID and crash reports, not your chats. Untick it and everything still works. Updates are automatic too.
  • Knowledge base limits. A knowledge base needs a model that can use tools, and the app greys it out while a file is attached. Our model was detected as tool capable.

Our verdict

Recommended

One package, no server, no account. It finds Ollama, and a PDF goes into the message or a cited knowledge base. But reporting starts on, the first screen pushes a paid service, and the base excludes attachments.

Reviewed: Cherry Studio Desktop 2.1.7 · facts checked 2026-10-22

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