# The best private alternatives to Claude in 2026

> Six private Claude alternatives compared on training, retention, local models, encrypted history, Mac support, writing, coding, and agent workflows.

- Canonical URL: https://www.opensoftware.co/blog/private-alternatives-to-claude
- Published: Jul 20, 2026
- Updated: Jul 20, 2026
- Category: Guides
- Author: OpenSoftware
- Reading time: 10 min read
- Topics: private Claude alternative, Claude alternative privacy, local Claude alternative, Claude desktop alternative, private Claude replacement, Claude alternative for work

## Primary links

- [Learn more about June](https://www.opensoftware.co/june)
- [Download June](https://www.opensoftware.co/download/mac)
- [June community](https://t.me/osjune)
- [Open source repository](https://github.com/open-software-network/os-june)
- [Venice AI](https://venice.ai/)
- [Hermes Agent](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/)
- [Hermes Agent source](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent)

Claude is a strong writing, coding, and analysis product. Its consumer privacy controls are also more nuanced than the claim that it simply "trains on everything."

On Claude Free, Pro, and Max, Anthropic uses chats and coding sessions for model improvement only if you allow it, apart from safety review and content you deliberately submit as feedback. Saved chats remain in your account until you delete them. Deletion removes a chat from the product immediately and schedules backend deletion within 30 days. If you allow model improvement, eligible data may be held in de-identified training pipelines for up to five years. Turning Model Improvement off cannot undo training already in progress or models already trained.

Anthropic may retain inputs and outputs flagged by automated safety systems for up to two years and the related trust and safety classification scores for up to seven years. Legal, abuse-prevention, and feedback exceptions can also apply.

Claude for Work does not train on organizational content by default. It is still a retained cloud workspace unless your enterprise retention policy says otherwise.

So the case for an alternative is not that Claude has no privacy controls. It is that you may want a different architecture: local inference, local history, zero retention, encrypted storage, or a desktop agent whose workspace lives on your Mac.

This guide compares alternatives for the jobs Claude is commonly hired to do: long-document analysis, writing, coding, Cowork-style agent tasks, and work that must remain on a Mac. For company-wide governance, use [private ChatGPT alternatives for work](https://opensoftware.co/blog/private-alternatives-to-chatgpt-for-work). For native Mac ergonomics, see [ChatGPT desktop alternatives for Mac](https://opensoftware.co/blog/chatgpt-desktop-alternatives-for-mac).

## How we evaluated Claude replacements

This is a documentation-based workflow comparison, not a claim that the models produce identical answers. We checked vendor sources current on July 20, 2026 and evaluated long-document support, writing and coding fit, file-based agent work, inference location, history storage, and retention.

## Quick answer

| Alternative | Best for | Privacy model | Closest Claude-like strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| [June](https://opensoftware.co/june) | Private work across chat, files, dictation, and meetings on Mac | Local-first workspace plus zero-retention hosted inference by default | Agentic work with local context |
| [Proton Lumo](https://proton.me/lumo) | Private hosted writing and summarization | No prompt/response logs; no training; zero-access encrypted history | Simple web chat |
| [Duck.ai](https://duck.ai) | Accessing Claude and other models through a privacy proxy | Anonymization plus provider agreements; OpenAI/Anthropic caches may remain in RAM for one hour | Choice of frontier models |
| [Venice](https://venice.ai) | Choosing TEE or E2EE hosted inference | Four model-specific privacy modes | Hosted model variety |
| [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai) | Fully local analysis and document chat | Local inference and local storage | Private long-document work, hardware permitting |
| [Jan](https://jan.ai) | Open-source local chat and tools | Local models, local history, opt-in telemetry | Open, extensible desktop experience |

No product exactly reproduces Claude's model behavior. If Claude's specific reasoning or writing quality is essential, the practical choice may be Claude with Model Improvement off, Claude Incognito chats, or Claude for Work. Incognito is not zero retention: Anthropic retains Incognito chats for 30 days by default, and an organization's retention policy can keep them longer. Team and Enterprise Incognito chats may also be available to administrators and exports. Choose an alternative when the privacy boundary matters more than using a specific model.

## What Claude's privacy settings do and do not do

Turning Model Improvement off prevents eligible new and existing chats from being used for future training runs, according to Anthropic's current consumer documentation, except work already in an active training run or a completed model. Incognito chats are not used for model improvement even if the setting is enabled, but their default retention is 30 days.

These controls do not make Claude local. Saved consumer chats and files still support the cloud product and remain until deleted. Claude Desktop Quick Entry, voice dictation, extensions, and Cowork also send work through Anthropic's service. Cowork cloud sessions run on Anthropic's servers, even when the desktop app provides access to a local file or browser.

For organizations, Team and Enterprise provide no-training terms and administrative controls. Enterprise can apply custom retention, but the default is still a cloud workspace rather than zero-retention inference.

## 1. June: best private Claude alternative for work on a Mac

June combines private chat with dictation, meeting notes, and a local Hermes-based agent. The workspace history is stored on your Mac by default, including recordings, transcripts, notes, files, sessions, and memory.

The default model path is hosted, not fully offline. June sends the selected content required for inference through the open-source June API to Venice Private models with zero-retention and no-training terms. Optional Anonymous providers can have different retention rules. The model picker makes that distinction visible.

The June API runs in an attested confidential virtual machine. You can inspect the public repository and validate deployment evidence at [opensoftware.co/verify](https://opensoftware.co/verify). This verifies the June API layer. It does not turn every upstream model into an attested service.

June can also connect to an optional OpenAI-compatible local text model for generation and agent work. That gives power users a local inference path without claiming that June's dictation or meeting transcription is fully offline.

The zero-retention claim covers prompt content on the default Private inference path. June still stores account, billing, capacity, model-selection, request-timing, credit, and error records. Issue reports keep what the user deliberately submits. Connected tools and web actions have their own recipient boundaries.

Compared with Claude Desktop, June is less about one frontier model and more about keeping the working context on the Mac. Its agent can work with local files, ask for approval before risky actions, and, on Pro or Max, run scheduled routines. The public codebase is MIT-licensed.

June supports macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel. System-audio meeting capture requires macOS 14.2 or later.

**Choose June if:** you want a private Mac workspace spanning voice, meetings, documents, and agent tasks.

**Keep Claude if:** Claude's exact model quality, Cowork ecosystem, or an organization-managed Claude workspace is the priority.

## 2. Proton Lumo: best simple hosted alternative

Lumo runs open models on Proton-controlled servers. Proton says it does not keep prompt or response logs, use chats for training, or send requests to third-party model providers. After inference, prompt content is erased from the processing system. Account, payment, security, and service records are separate.

Saved history uses zero-access encryption. Proton's server temporarily decrypts the active conversation for inference, then saves history in a form Proton says it cannot decrypt.

Lumo is a focused chat product available on the web and mobile. It does not currently replace Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or Cowork. Its value is a clearer hosted privacy model for drafting, summarization, and ordinary questions.

**Choose Lumo if:** you want encrypted hosted chat without managing local models.

**Keep Claude if:** you need Claude's coding tools, model quality, integrations, or agentic work surfaces.

## 3. Duck.ai: best way to use Claude models behind a privacy proxy

Duck.ai is unusual because it can provide access to selected Anthropic models without sending Anthropic your IP address or direct account identity.

DuckDuckGo says it strips identifying metadata and contracts with providers for no training and zero data retention. Anthropic prompt caching may keep chat content in memory for up to one hour, and limited legal or misuse exceptions apply. Uploaded images and files are scanned for child sexual abuse material outside the Tinfoil encrypted path and may be retained and reported if flagged. That is stronger than an ordinary consumer Claude session, but it is not local inference.

Duck.ai also offers OpenAI, Mistral, Azure, and Tinfoil-hosted models. Tinfoil models add a Trusted Execution Environment and "zero provider visibility." The privacy guarantee therefore depends on the selected model, not merely the Duck.ai brand.

**Choose Duck.ai if:** you want private access to multiple frontier model families or specifically want Claude behind an anonymizing proxy.

**Keep Claude if:** you depend on Projects, Cowork, Claude Code, long-lived account context, or Anthropic's newest features on release day.

## 4. Venice: best configurable hosted privacy

Venice offers Anonymous, Private, TEE, and E2EE model modes.

Anonymous mode hides your identity from providers such as Anthropic but explicitly tells you to assume the upstream provider stores the prompt. It is not the mode to choose when retention is the reason you are leaving Claude.

Private mode uses Venice-controlled GPUs or zero-retention partners. TEE mode adds hardware-isolated inference with attestation. E2EE encrypts the prompt on the device and decrypts it only inside a verified TEE, but gives up features such as web search and memory.

Conversation history stays in local browser storage. Venice still records limited account and product event data, which is separate from prompt content.

**Choose Venice if:** you want to trade model selection and features for stronger, clearly labeled hosted privacy modes.

**Keep Claude if:** you need Anthropic's complete feature set and are satisfied with its account and retention controls.

## 5. LM Studio: best local alternative for documents and private analysis

LM Studio runs downloaded open models entirely on your Mac. With local models selected, prompts, documents, retrieval, and chat history stay on the machine. It can also expose an OpenAI-compatible local server to other applications.

The privacy boundary is strong because there is no hosted inference request. The capability tradeoff can also be large. Claude's strongest models run on data-center hardware. A local alternative must fit in the memory and compute available on your Mac.

For routine drafting and private document search, a good smaller model may be enough. For difficult reasoning, very long context, or advanced tool use, it may not match Claude.

Optional LM Studio cloud models and web search use zero-retention processing, but they are no longer local.

**Choose LM Studio if:** local inference is the requirement and you are willing to test models against your real workload.

**Keep Claude if:** predictable frontier performance matters more than keeping every prompt on-device.

## 6. Jan: best open-source local alternative

Jan is an open-source desktop platform for local models and tools. It works offline after model download, keeps app data in a local folder, requires no account for local use, and makes analytics optional.

Jan can connect to Claude, GPT, and other cloud APIs. Those requests follow the provider's terms. A local-first interface does not protect a prompt sent to a remote model.

Jan currently supports Apple Silicon Macs on macOS 13.6 or later. It also runs on Windows and Linux.

**Choose Jan if:** you want an auditable local assistant, open models, and an extensible tool system.

**Keep Claude if:** you prefer a managed service and do not want to select, download, and maintain models.

## Which alternative replaces the part of Claude you use?

| Claude job | Strongest private alternative | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Reviewing a contract that cannot leave one Mac | LM Studio or Jan with a local model | Local models may be weaker on long context and difficult reasoning |
| Drafting and summarizing in a hosted chat | Proton Lumo | Simpler product and different open models |
| Using Claude or other frontier models without a direct provider identity | Duck.ai | Browser-first, no Projects, Cowork, or Claude Code |
| Hardware-verified hosted inference | Venice TEE or E2EE | E2EE gives up web search, memory, file upload, and function calling |
| Working across local files, meetings, voice, and scheduled tasks | June | macOS only; speech workflows are not fully offline by default |
| Claude Code or Cowork with organizational governance | Claude for Work | Retained Anthropic cloud workspace rather than local or zero retention |

Do not use a consumer privacy comparison as a substitute for your employer's security review. Legal privilege, regulated records, data residency, contractual confidentiality, and incident response require more than a no-training toggle.

## Sources and verification

This article was checked on July 20, 2026 against primary vendor documentation:

- [Anthropic consumer training policy](https://privacy.anthropic.com/en/articles/10023580-is-my-data-used-for-model-training), [consumer retention](https://privacy.claude.com/en/articles/10023548-how-long-do-you-store-my-data), and [Claude for Work data use](https://privacy.anthropic.com/en/articles/7996885-how-do-you-use-personal-data-in-model-training)
- [Claude Incognito retention and organization visibility](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12260368-use-incognito-chats)
- [Claude Quick Entry](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12626668-use-quick-entry-with-claude-desktop-on-mac) and [Claude Cowork](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-get-started-with-claude-cowork)
- [Claude Cowork architecture](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/14479288-claude-cowork-architecture-overview)
- [Proton Lumo privacy](https://proton.me/support/lumo-privacy)
- [Duck.ai privacy details](https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/duckai/ai-chat-privacy)
- [Venice privacy modes](https://venice.ai/privacy)
- [LM Studio offline operation](https://lmstudio.ai/docs/app/offline)
- [Jan overview](https://www.jan.ai/docs) and [privacy approach](https://www.jan.ai/docs/desktop/privacy)
- [June FAQ](https://opensoftware.co/june/faq) and [June API verification](https://opensoftware.co/verify)