# Core vs LocalGhost

> LocalGhost scores 53 (D) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do memory search. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-06

LocalGhost scores 53 (D) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do memory search.

- Core: grade F, 7.3/100, rank #460 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.json
- LocalGhost: grade D, 53/100, rank #343 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/localghost.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/localghost.json

## Which one, for what

### Core (F)

Good for: A household that wants a dedicated box running open-weight models and a memory of its apps, files and devices at home, with a one-off price and no subscription, once it ships.

Watch for: Not shipped on 5 October 2026. Batch 1 is scheduled for 31 October and showed sold out that evening

### LocalGhost (D)

Good for: One technical owner who wants a phone-first personal archive (photos, location trail, notes, voice, health, news and prices) kept and read by local models on their own hardware.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 55 against 5
- Schema & documentation, 49 against 7
- Agent ergonomics, 39 against 4
- Security & auth, 47 against 6
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 78 against 3
- Transparency & trust, 82 against 45

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: No API, MCP server or credential for agents. The box answers only its enrolled phone


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Core | LocalGhost | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 5 | 55 | LocalGhost +50 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 7 | 49 | LocalGhost +42 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 4 | 39 | LocalGhost +35 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 6 | 47 | LocalGhost +41 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 60 | LocalGhost +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 3 | 78 | LocalGhost +75 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 82 | LocalGhost +37 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **7.3 · F** | **53 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Core | LocalGhost |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model platform | Model platform |
| Vendor | Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.) | LocalGhost |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | Token |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Not stated. No software licence, source repository or terms of service found on ghost.ai (checked 2026-10-05). Models listed are Qwen 3.8-Next, Qwen 3.8-27B, Gemma 4-31B and Muse-Glimmer-30B. Ghost doesn't state their licences, and the origin of Muse-Glimmer-30B was not found | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-10-05 |
| Popularity | none | 16 stars |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (1) | 2/5 (3) |

## Verdicts

**Core.** Ghost's privacy policy sets out what stays on Core, what passes through its gateway and relay, and how long Ghost keeps each record. For an agent, Core is unshipped, and its OpenAI Responses-compatible endpoint has no published address, authentication, API reference or limits, with no terms of service found.

**LocalGhost.** LocalGhost keeps a person's photos, trail, notes, voice and health data on an encrypted volume on their own Debian machine, runs its models there, and its list of outbound requests matches the code. It's pre-1.0 at wisp 0.0.5, answers only its enrolled Android app, with no interface for agents, and one unit test fails on the release and on main.

## Before you call either

### Core

1. Don't plan on reaching a Core before 31 October 2026. Batch 1 hadn't shipped, and new orders showed sold out on 5 October
2. Ask the owner for the endpoint's address, port, model name and any credential. Ghost documents none of them
3. Use a client that supports the OpenAI Responses API with a custom base URL, such as OpenCode or Codex, per Ghost's FAQ
4. Don't assume a context length or output limit. Ghost states none for Qwen 3.8-Next, Qwen 3.8-27B, Gemma 4-31B or Muse-Glimmer-30B
5. Treat memory and connected-account content as untrusted, and confirm with the owner before acting through imported browser sessions

### LocalGhost

1. Don't look for an API or MCP server. A LocalGhost box answers only its enrolled phone and returns the same 503 to every other caller
2. Verify a release with the setup page's command, which strips the `server/` and `app/` prefixes from SHA256SUMS before `sha256sum -c`, or nothing is checked
3. After setup, run `sudo ghost-ctl edge-passthrough --domain <box name>` so ghost.secd checks the device certificate itself
4. Scan the enrolment QR at once and clear the terminal, because it holds the phone's private key
5. Install from the v0.0.5 release, not main, which carries unreleased 0.0.6 work

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Core or LocalGhost?

LocalGhost scores 53 (D) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Are Core and LocalGhost open source?

No open-source release is listed for Core. LocalGhost is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "ghost-core", "b": "localghost"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare ghost-core localghost`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/localghost.json

## Other comparisons with Core or LocalGhost

- [AnythingLLM vs Core](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.md)
- [Core vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all.md)
- [Core vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-jan.md)
- [Core vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj.md)
- [Core vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-llama-cpp.md)
- [Core vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-lm-studio.md)
- [Core vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localai.md)
- [Core vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-ollama.md)
- [Core vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui.md)
- [Core vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-screenpipe.md)
- [Cognee vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cognee-vs-localghost.md)
- [Graphiti vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/graphiti-vs-localghost.md)
- [Hindsight vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hindsight-vs-localghost.md)
- [Honcho vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/honcho-vs-localghost.md)
- [LocalGhost vs Mem0 Platform + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localghost-vs-mem0.md)
- [LocalGhost vs Supermemory API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localghost-vs-supermemory.md)
- [LocalGhost vs Zep](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localghost-vs-zep.md)
- [Core vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-localghost.md)
- [GPT4All vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-localghost.md)
- [Khoj vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/khoj-vs-localghost.md)
- [LocalGhost vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localghost-vs-screenpipe.md)

## Disclosure

- Ghost Core competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.
- LocalGhost is built by Anchor Terminal's founder. Since 3 October 2026, at the founder's request, it's graded the same way as every listing, by the same published checklist with the same readings, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed. letme never picks it. Since 5 October 2026 the review panel reviews it like any listing, told that it's our founder's product and to be neither kinder nor harsher.