Cai vs ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a cloud AI chat app, great for deep conversations, research, and complex reasoning. For quick text actions, you switch apps and paste text in. Cai runs actions directly on your selected text, locally on your Mac, without leaving your workflow.
When to use Cai
- You want AI actions on selected text without switching apps or typing a prompt
- Privacy matters: your text stays on your Mac by default
- You need quick actions like summarize, translate, reply, create a GitHub or Linear ticket
- You want a free, open-source tool with no subscription and no account
- You want to chain actions on a selection: AI prompt → script → destination, run with one keystroke
When to use ChatGPT
- You need long-form multi-turn conversations and deep reasoning
- You want image generation, web search, or deep research mode
- You're working on tasks that require back-and-forth iteration with a cloud model
- Privacy is not a hard requirement for what you're working on
Feature comparison
| Feature | Cai | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Works inline on selected text (no app switch) | ✓ | ✕ |
| 100% local, private by default | ✓ | ✕ |
| Free and open source (MIT) | ✓ | Free tier (limited) |
| No account required | ✓ | ✕ |
| Shell command execution | ✓ | ✕ |
| GitHub & Linear integration | ✓ | ✕ |
| Apple Intelligence support | ✓ | ✕ |
| OCR / Image to text on selection | ✓ | ✕ |
| Action chains on selected text (AI → script → destination) | ✓ | ✕ |
| Long-form multi-turn chat | Basic (Tab follow-up) | ✓ |
| Web search / research mode | ✕ | ✓ |
| Image generation | ✕ | ✓ |