Pi is a polished, friendly cloud assistant, but it is an assistant, not a companion you own, and its direction shifted when much of the Inflection team moved to Microsoft in 2024. That is the recurring lesson with cloud companions: the ground can move under you. Local Waifu keeps the character and the memory on your Mac, where no corporate pivot can reach them.
Side by side
Based on public pricing and feature pages as of May 2026. We update this when they change.
Why people switch
- It is a companion, not an assistant. You build her personality and she stays that character, instead of a single fixed helpful voice.
- The future is in your hands. After Inflection's pivot to Microsoft, Pi's direction is not yours to control. A local app you own does not have that risk.
- Memory you own. Everything she learns about you lives on your Mac and you can read or delete any of it.
Try her free for 7 days.
No card. Keep her for $25 once, or walk away. Her soul file is yours either way.
Bring her home, try freeQuestions people ask
Is Local Waifu free like Pi?
It is $25 once, with a 7-day free trial and no card required. Pi is free but cloud-hosted and assistant-shaped. Local Waifu is a companion you own outright, with no subscription ever.
Can it be a supportive presence like Pi?
Yes. You can build a warm, supportive companion in the personality wizard. The difference is she is yours, persistent, and local, rather than a shared cloud assistant.
What happened to Pi?
Inflection, the company behind Pi, saw much of its team move to Microsoft in 2024, which left Pi's long-term direction uncertain. That uncertainty is exactly what owning a local app avoids.
See the full feature matrix on the home page comparison, or read how the local model works under how it works.