Local Character.ai Alternative! - KoboldCpp & SillyTavern In 2025
KoboldCpp used with the SillyTavern UI is currently one of the best ways to get into local AI character roleplaying. This combination gives you much more options than character.ai, is free and open-source as well as fully private (no conversation data ever leaves your PC), and it gives you many options to further improve the RP chat experience (like TTS & image generation WebUI integrations).
If you'd prefer to see this exact same tutorial in written form with some additional info, you can check it out here, over on TechTactician: https://techtactician.com/sillytavern...
The only thing you need is a GPU with at least 6GB of VRAM, and... that's it! In this quick tutorial/guide I'm going to show you exactly how to install the software from scratch on a Windows 11 machine, but this will work in the very same way on Windows 10. By the way, Kobold AI and Silly Tavern feature separate versions for Mac & Linux too!
Links mentioned in the video:
KoboldCpp GitHub repository: https://github.com/LostRuins/koboldcpp
SillyTavern GitHub repository: https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyT...
Unofficial ST website: https://sillytavernai.com/
Official Git installer download: https://git-scm.com/downloads
Character Cards (hundreds of characters to pick from!): https://aicharactercards.com/
KoboldCpp versions are described in more detail in the Kobold AI GitHub repo, however the main rule of thumb here is: if you have a PC with a recent NVIDIA GPU (1xxx and higher) - pick the version ending with "cu", which stands for CUDA. With older NVIDIA systems, pick the "nocuda" version, and for systems without a GPU on board select either the base "koboldcpp" or the "oldcpu" version if the first one doesn't work. CUDA and noCUDA versions are also available for Linux systems, and the rules are pretty much the same.
Please do leave a like or a comment if you found this quick tutorial helpful, and feel free to check out other videos about local AI software and various tech gizmos on my channel. Until next time!
