ClickUi
Free, open-source Ctrl+K desktop assistant that talks to OpenAI, Claude, Google, Groq, OpenRouter or local Ollama models with voice and web search
ClickUi owns a narrow, real niche: a free, open-source Ctrl+K assistant that works with whichever model you point it at and can search the web even when you're running a local llama3 or deepseek model through Ollama. Whisper dictation copied straight to the clipboard is the standout feature for anyone using Cursor or Google Docs, and Zillow/Redfin lookups by voice are unusual at any price. The trade-offs are equally clear: you install from source (Python plus Conda, or the Windows-only Install.bat), and the project is donation-funded through PayPal and Zelle, so there's no support contract. If you want turnkey, ChatGPT Desktop or Perplexity will be smoother. If you want free, hackable and
Verified 1d ago · liveness 66/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/clickui
- Developers who want a hackable, open-source hotkey assistant
- Power users who want system-wide AI access with voice input
- Privacy-conscious users who prefer local models via Ollama
- Prompt tinkerers who want to test several models under one interface
- Non-technical users who want a polished click-to-install desktop app
- Teams needing collaboration, admin controls or shared workspaces
- Enterprises requiring SLAs and production-grade support
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Skip ClickUi if you want a signed, click-to-install desktop app or vendor support with an SLA — today it runs from Python source, and Whisper plus Kokoro must be installed and configured before voice mode works.
Conversation history reloads the last 15 days by default and the docs warn it can consume a lot of tokens, so long-running use adds to whatever you pay your model provider per token.
ClickUi itself is free and open source, so the only recurring cost is your model provider's API usage — which you control directly by choosing the engine and model in .voiceconfig. That puts it below subscription desktop assistants like ChatGPT Desktop or Perplexity, and roughly on par with running a local Ollama model at zero marginal cost. It suits solo developers and privacy-minded power users, not teams that need seats, admin controls or a support contract.
In short
ClickUi — Free, open-source Ctrl+K desktop assistant that talks to OpenAI, Claude, Google, Groq, OpenRouter or local Ollama models with voice and web search. Best for Developers who want a hackable, open-source hotkey assistant, Power users who want system-wide AI access with voice input, Privacy-conscious users who prefer local models via Ollama. Free to use.
What people actually say about ClickUi — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
29 mentions across 3 sources (YouTube, Product Hunt, GitHub) · researched Aug 15, 2026.
Average across the 3 sources that answered — each source counts once, not each post.
- +Ctrl+K system-wide hotkey provides instant AI access from any app.
- +Supports a wide range of models: OpenAI, Claude, Google, Groq, Ollama.
- +Local-first and privacy-focused: works fully offline with Ollama.
- +Voice chat with clipboard copy integrates well with Cursor or Docs.
- +Open-source and auditable, with active development on GitHub.
- −No ready-to-run installer; requires running from Python source.
- −Mac users face segmentation errors and broken compatibility.
- −Setup process is complex for non-developers.
- −GitHub navigation and source instructions overwhelm beginners.
- −Limited support structure; relies on GitHub issues and community.
- • No hidden costs for the software itself, but users must supply their own API keys for cloud models (e.g., OpenAI, Claude) which incur usage fees.
- • Time cost of setting up dependencies and troubleshooting errors.
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is ClickUi? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: October 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Ctrl+K system-wide hotkey that summons the chat bubble over any app
- Voice chat with any configured model, in and out
- Whisper (base) speech recognition for voice transcription
- Kokoro text-to-speech for spoken responses
- Multi-model support: OpenAI, Claude, Google, OpenRouter, Groq, Ollama
- Built-in Google Search for any model supporting function/tool calling
- Live Google Search from local models such as llama3 and deepseek via tool calling
- Zillow and Redfin property value lookups in both text and voice chat
- Speech transcription automatically copied to the clipboard
- File attachments in chat
- Conversation history loaded from the last N days (default 15)
- Local/offline operation via Ollama models
- Configuration via .voiceconfig file or in-app Settings with Save Config
- Chrome browser automation settings (browser type, user data, profile, driver path)
- Optional Sonos integration via the use_sonos setting
About ClickUi
ClickUi is a free, open-source desktop AI assistant written in Python that lives behind a Ctrl+K hotkey. Press the hotkey over any app and a chat bubble appears on top of whatever you're working in, so you can ask a question or dictate text without switching windows. You configure one model at a time through the ENGINE and MODEL_ENGINE fields in a .voiceconfig file or the in-app Settings menu: OpenAI, Claude, Google, OpenRouter, Groq, or a local Ollama model. The homepage default is gpt-4o-mini; the documentation example config shows gpt-4o. Voice mode uses Whisper for speech recognition (loaded as the "base" model) and Kokoro for spoken replies, and every transcription is copied to your clipboard so you can paste it into Cursor as voice input or write into Google Docs. With a model that supports function or tool calling, ClickUi runs live Google Search and pulls property values from Redfin and Zillow in both text and voice chat. It's built for developers and privacy-minded power users who are comfortable with Python, Conda and a GitHub clone — it is not a click-to-install product today.
Behind the Verdict
ClickUi's value proposition is the hotkey plus the clipboard. Most desktop AI clients make you pick a window, then a model, then paste your own prompt. ClickUi inverts that: Ctrl+K summons a bubble over whatever app is focused, and when you finish speaking, Whisper's transcription lands in your clipboard automatically. That single loop — talk, then paste — is what makes it genuinely useful for dictating prose into Google Docs or driving Cursor by voice instead of by hand. Its second differentiator is that search is not tied to a cloud vendor. Per the homepage, any model that supports function or tool calling can use the built-in Google Search tools, including local ones like llama3 and deepseek, and the same tool-calling path is what powers Redfin and Zillow property lookups in both text and voice chat. Model choice is configured via ENGINE and MODEL_ENGINE in .voiceconfig, with API keys stored in the same file, so you can mix cloud and local inference, or run entirely offline on Ollama. The honest weaknesses are all packaging and governance rather than capability. Distribution is source code: you clone the repo, create a Conda environment from conda_packages.txt, install requirements.txt, and run python clickui.py. Executable installers are still listed as coming soon. Whisper and Kokoro are loaded into the global scope and must be installed and configured before the app runs — the docs warn that skipping them causes runtime errors, and you can only run without voice by commenting out that loading code. You also need a Chrome driver path, a Chrome profile and a Chrome user-data directory if you want the browser-backed lookups to work. Conversation history reloads the last 15 days by default and the docs themselves warn that history "can quickly consume a lot of tokens." ClickUi is a personal power tool, not a team platform: there is no collaboration surface, no admin console, and no SLA, because development is donation-funded via PayPal and Zelle. Treat it as a well-documented hackable script you maintain yourself, and it delivers a lot for nothing.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas ClickUi actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You keep Cursor open and want to dictate a function description instead of typing it. You press Ctrl+K, click the message icon, speak, and ClickUi transcribes with Whisper and copies the text to your clipboard, ready to paste into the editor.
Outcome: Hands-free drafting inside your existing editor, with no window switching and no separate dictation app.
You configure ENGINE to Ollama with MODEL_ENGINE set to a local model in .voiceconfig, then use Ctrl+K for voice and text questions that never leave your machine.
Outcome: System-wide AI assistance and a Google Search tool path for function-calling models, without sending prompts to a cloud provider.
You press Ctrl+K and speak an address; with a tool-calling model selected, ClickUi runs the web search and returns the estimated Zillow or Redfin property value in the chat bubble, or reads it back in voice mode.
Outcome: A value estimate from the desktop in one hotkey and one sentence, without opening a browser or a property site.
Use Cases
- Press Ctrl+K over any app to ask a quick AI question without switching windows
- Dictate text by voice and paste it straight into Cursor or Google Docs from the clipboard
- Run a local Ollama model for private, offline voice and text assistance
- Have a function-calling model run a live Google Search for current news from your desktop
- Speak a home address and pull its estimated Zillow or Redfin value
- Extend the function-calling tools to chain search and property lookups into a custom workflow
- Attach a file to a chat bubble to get AI help without leaving your current application
Models Under the Hood
as of 2026-10-15
Limitations
- ClickUi is distributed as source code.
- You download it from GitHub and run it with python clickui.py inside a Conda environment built from conda_packages.txt and requirements.txt; executable installers are still listed as coming soon, with an Install.bat helper for Windows only.
- Whisper and Kokoro are loaded into the global scope and must be installed and configured before the app runs — the documentation warns that failure to do so causes runtime errors, and voice mode only stops erroring if you comment out that loading code, which disables voice.
- Web search and Zillow/Redfin lookups only work with models that support function or tool calling.
- Browser-backed lookups need a configured browser type, Chrome user-data directory, Chrome profile and driver path.
- Conversation history reloads the last 15 days by default and the docs warn it can consume a lot of tokens.
- The project is open source and donation-supported via PayPal and Zelle, so development and support are community-driven rather than commercial.
as of 2026-10-10
Verification history
We have re-verified ClickUi 10 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Showing the 6 most recent of 10 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published ClickUi tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free & Open Source
$0
Ideal for
Solo developers and privacy-minded power users who will run Python, install Whisper and Kokoro, and supply their own model API keys or a local Ollama model.
What this tier adds
Starting tier — no license fee for the app. You pay only your chosen model provider, and you maintain the environment yourself.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where ClickUi's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
ClickUi itself is free and open source, so the only recurring cost is your model provider's API usage — which you control directly by choosing the engine and model in .voiceconfig. That puts it below subscription desktop assistants like ChatGPT Desktop or Perplexity, and roughly on par with running a local Ollama model at zero marginal cost. It suits solo developers and privacy-minded power users, not teams that need seats, admin controls or a support contract.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of ClickUi — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Windows: minutes if you use the Install.bat helper after installing Anaconda, since it clones the repo, runs the install commands and launches the program. Everyone else: budget 30-60 minutes for a manual path — clone the repo, run conda create --name click_ui --file conda_packages.txt, conda activate click_ui, pip install -r requirements.txt, then python clickui.py. Whisper and Kokoro must be
Switching to or from ClickUi
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From ChatGPT Desktop: point ENGINE at OpenAI with your own API key, then map the Ctrl+K habit onto the hotkey, which is configurable via HOTKEY_LAUNCH.
- →From a standalone dictation tool: use Whisper voice mode and the clipboard copy in place of your previous transcription app.
- →From local Ollama chat UIs: set ENGINE to Ollama and MODEL_ENGINE to your local model so the same assistant gains a system-wide hotkey and web search.
- →From a browser-based AI sidebar: move the prompt box out of the browser entirely by attaching files and using Google Search through a tool-calling model.
- ↗To ChatGPT Desktop: export the workflow if you want a polished, vendor-supported app rather than a Python script you maintain.
- ↗To Perplexity: switch to it for research-heavy sessions where built-in web answers matter more than system-wide dictation.
- ↗To a hosted multi-model client: move to one that ships installers if managing Conda environments and Chrome drivers is the friction you want gone.
Integrations
Resources & Guides
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “ClickUi”, and we withheld 6: 6 could not be judged, because “ClickUi” is a single word that other videos use for other things. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about ClickUi.
Official links
Tools that pair well with ClickUi
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside ClickUi, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT: OpenAI's AI chat assistant for reasoning, Codex coding, deep research, voice and virtual try-on
Atomic Chat
Atomic Chat runs 1,000+ local LLMs offline on your own hardware — free, open-source, no account, no rate limits.
Cortex.cpp
Run local HuggingFace models or route prompts to Claude, GPT and Gemini with your own API keys
Featured Head-to-Head Comparisons
Clickui vs Gem
Gem is ideal for recruiting teams that want an all-in-one ATS/CRM with AI automation, but it's paid and focused on hiring. ClickUi is a free, open-source AI assistant for general-purpose tasks, perfect for developers and power users, but lacks recruiting-specific features. Choose Gem if you run a recruiting team; choose ClickUi for a customizable, cost-free AI tool.
Clickui vs Poke Interaction Co
Choose ClickUi if you want a free, open-source desktop assistant with model freedom and local AI privacy. Choose Poke if you prefer managing email, calendar, and tasks directly from your messaging apps, with automations powered by Recipes; its Pro/Ultra tiers are worth it for heavy integration users.
Clickui vs Guesty
Choose Guesty if you manage vacation rentals and want AI-driven automation for guest messaging, channel sync, and even bank reconciliation (latest feature as of June 2026). Choose ClickUi if you need a free, open-source AI assistant that works offline with local models, supports multiple cloud APIs, and gives you system-wide hotkey access. They solve completely different problems; pick based on your domain.
Alternatives to ClickUi
View allChatGPT
ChatGPT: OpenAI's AI chat assistant for reasoning, Codex coding, deep research, voice and virtual try-on
Atomic Chat
Atomic Chat runs 1,000+ local LLMs offline on your own hardware — free, open-source, no account, no rate limits.
Cortex.cpp
Run local HuggingFace models or route prompts to Claude, GPT and Gemini with your own API keys
Frequently Asked Questions
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