The latest articles on DEV Community by Cerewro Team (@cerewroteam). https://dev.to/cerewroteam https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4185583%2Fd9caa0a1-3928-4f1a-b780-f869f1f5faa7.png https://dev.to/cerewroteam en Cerewro Team Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:17:36 +0000 https://dev.to/cerewroteam/building-a-free-windows-ai-assistant-one-window-for-cloud-and-local-models-31b5 https://dev.to/cerewroteam/building-a-free-windows-ai-assistant-one-window-for-cloud-and-local-models-31b5 <p>We're a small team in Granada (Spain) and we've been building Cerewro, a Windows 10/11 desktop app that lets you talk to several AI models from a single window.</p> <p><strong>Why we built it.</strong> We kept juggling browser tabs for different assistants and wanted one place on the desktop, with the option to run a model locally when you don't want data leaving your PC.</p> <p><strong>How it works (high level).</strong> You choose a provider per conversation: a cloud model with your own API key, or a local model with no key. Keys are stored on your machine. Switching provider doesn't change how you work.</p> <p><strong>What we learned.</strong> (1) Asking for less at sign-up matters: we cut it down to email + password. (2) Being upfront about cloud costs avoids confusion: the app is free, the AI provider bills its own API usage.</p> <p><strong>Disclosure:</strong> I'm on the Cerewro team. It's completely free (no plans, no card). Feedback on what's missing or confusing is very welcome: <a href="https://cerewro.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://cerewro.com</a></p> showdev ai windows productivity