{"slug": "show-hn-chatoss-a-codex-alternative-for-open-source-ai-built-on-ollama", "title": "Show HN: ChatOSS – A Codex alternative for Open Source AI built on Ollama", "summary": "ChatOSS, a native desktop workspace for agentic coding built on Ollama, launched as an open-source alternative to Codex, offering AI agents that work inside repositories with an integrated Kanban board. The tool supports local models for free and cloud models on demand, with pricing starting at $8 per month for Starter and $20 per month for Plus, and is installable via a curl command.", "body_md": "# Codex alternative for Open Source AI\n\n`curl -fsSL https://chatoss.ai/install.sh | sh`\n\npaste this in terminal, or [download ChatOSS](/download)\n\n## Built for\n\nagentic coding\n\nChatOSS is a native desktop workspace where AI agents do real work alongside you. They write code in your repos, plan and track tasks on an integrated Kanban board, and ship. It's more than chat — a suite of apps you can extend, running on Ollama or the cloud.\n\n- Agents that work directly inside your repositories\n- Integrated Kanban board — plan and ship with a team of agents\n- A growing suite of apps, and you can build your own\n- Bring models from Ollama or the cloud, and switch anytime\n\n[Download ChatOSS →](/download)\n\nYour apps\n\nglm-5.2\n\ndeepseek-v4-pro-0813\n\n+ 6 more\n\n## Start local.\n\nScale with cloud.\n\nKeep using your local models for free. When a job needs more horsepower, ChatOSS gives you faster, larger models on demand.\n\n- Run cloud models on demand\n- Run many agents in parallel\n- Fall back to your free local models anytime\n- Local Ollama models are always free, no account needed\n\n[Create account](/signup)\n\nStarter\n\n### Try cloud models affordably\n\nLow-usage open source cloud models — run 1 at a time.\n\n$8 / mo\n\n[Get Starter](/login)\n\nPlus\n\n### Solve harder tasks, faster\n\nEvery cloud model — open source and closed, 3 at a time.\n\n$20 / mo\n\n[Get Plus](/login)\n\n## Use the open source models you love\n\nChatOSS brings your favorite open source AI models together in one place — chat with them, code with them, and put them to work side by side. Run them on Ollama for free, or scale up to cloud versions when you need more.\n\n- Qwen, DeepSeek, GLM, Minimax, Gemma, and more\n- Bring your own local models via Ollama\n- Switch models mid-conversation, no restart\n- Run many agents in parallel on the models you choose\n\n[Browse all models →](/models)\n\n## Get started with ChatOSS\n\n`curl -fsSL https://chatoss.ai/install.sh | sh`\n\npaste this in terminal, or [download ChatOSS](/download)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-chatoss-a-codex-alternative-for-open-source-ai-built-on-ollama", "canonical_source": "https://chatoss.ai", "published_at": "2026-08-18 20:42:19+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-18 21:11:48.521194+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-tools", "developer-tools", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["ChatOSS", "Ollama", "Codex", "Qwen", "DeepSeek", "GLM", "Minimax", "Gemma"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-chatoss-a-codex-alternative-for-open-source-ai-built-on-ollama", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-chatoss-a-codex-alternative-for-open-source-ai-built-on-ollama.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-chatoss-a-codex-alternative-for-open-source-ai-built-on-ollama.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-chatoss-a-codex-alternative-for-open-source-ai-built-on-ollama.jsonld"}}