{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "ghost-core", "name": "Core", "vendor": "Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.)", "vendorUrl": "https://ghost.ai", "kind": "platform", "category": "local-ai", "summary": "Core is a personal AI computer from Ghost that runs open-weight language models and a memory of the owner's apps, files and devices at home, used through Ghost's apps and an OpenAI Responses-compatible endpoint. On pre-order.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.json", "license": "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", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Not documented for the agent interface. Ghost's FAQ says Core exposes an endpoint compatible with the OpenAI Responses API but gives no address, port or authentication method, so keyless use isn't established. The Ghost app pairs with Core over the local network, remote access is for paired devices, and Ghost keeps device authorisation records. Online services use Ghost's gateway or the owner's own provider API keys. The privacy policy mentions device-access controls without detail (https://ghost.ai/core, https://ghost.ai/setup, https://ghost.ai/privacy, checked 2026-10-05).", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "$3,499 one-off (USD, excluding VAT, tax calculated at checkout), with free shipping for batch 1, a 30-day return and a one-year warranty. Ghost states no subscription and no per-token inference fees. Some online services (web search, phone calls) run through Ghost-managed services with daily usage limits whose numbers aren't published, or through the owner's own API keys. Batch 1 showed sold out at 23:31 UTC on 5 October 2026, with a batch 2 interest form in place of the order button (https://ghost.ai/core, https://ghost.ai/privacy, https://ghost.ai/api/stock).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 on ghost.ai or in its site code (checked 2026-10-05). Orders go through Stripe Checkout.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-05" }, "docsUrl": "https://ghost.ai/setup", "capabilities": [ "inference.local", "inference.open-weights", "memory.user", "memory.search", "memory.delete" ], "tags": [ "local", "closed-source", "paid", "openai-compatible", "desktop", "no-telemetry", "stripe" ], "graded": true, "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.", "competesWith": "localghost", "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 7.3, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 460, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 13, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 4, "maintenance": 3, "payments": 10, "reliability": 5, "schema": 7, "security": 6, "transparency": 45 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-05" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-05. Ghost's home page says 'No data ever leaves your home' and 'Everything you do with Core is run locally' (seen at 23:31 UTC on 5 October 2026), and the FAQ says Core processes data 'entirely on-device', while the privacy policy, effective 4 October 2026, says web search, phone calls and email requests go through Ghost's gateway to third-party providers that may keep them unless the owner sets their own keys, and that remote access runs through Ghost's relay. A misleading claim, weighed as Screenpipe's README claim was. The policy and the FAQ's internet answer disclose the online services, they carry task requests rather than default-on analytics, and Core hadn't shipped, so the minimum, -2. https://ghost.ai/ ; https://ghost.ai/core ; https://ghost.ai/privacy" ], "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "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.", "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.", "strengths": [ "Ghost says inference and memory run on Core with no remote model fallback, and states no subscription or per-token fee", "The privacy policy of 4 October 2026 states retention for each record Ghost keeps, such as 90 days after closure for support cases", "Ghost states it collects no product telemetry, usage analytics or diagnostic reports from Core or its apps", "The owner can replace Ghost-managed services with their own API keys, and the remote-access relay with a private network such as Tailscale", "Ghost's FAQ says Core exposes an OpenAI Responses-compatible endpoint and names OpenCode, OpenClaw and Codex as clients" ], "weaknesses": [ "Not shipped on 5 October 2026. Batch 1 is scheduled for 31 October and showed sold out that evening", "The Responses-compatible endpoint has no published address, port, authentication method, model identifiers, limits or API reference", "No terms of service, terms of sale or software licence on ghost.ai, and no security.txt or disclosure policy", "Core can import saved passwords and signed-in sessions and act through the owner's accounts, with no confirmation step or injection guidance found", "The home page says no data ever leaves the home, while the privacy policy routes online services through Ghost's gateway to third parties" ], "agentNotes": [ "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", "Ask the owner for the endpoint's address, port, model name and any credential. Ghost documents none of them", "Use a client that supports the OpenAI Responses API with a custom base URL, such as OpenCode or Codex, per Ghost's FAQ", "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", "Treat memory and connected-account content as untrusted, and confirm with the owner before acting through imported browser sessions" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 1, "avgRating": 2, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 7.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 4, "maintenance": 3, "payments": 10, "reliability": 5, "schema": 7, "security": 6, "transparency": 30 }, "provenanceScore": 60 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.local", "tool": "https://letme.dev/ghost-core" }, "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "ZMJ, Inc., doing business as Ghost, 325 9th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, United States", "domain": "ghost.ai", "domainRegistered": "2017-12-16", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "https://ghost.ai/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-05", "notes": [ "The privacy policy, effective 4 October 2026, names ZMJ, Inc., doing business as Ghost, at 325 9th Street, San Francisco. The state of incorporation was not found.", "RDAP for ghost.ai shows registration on 16 December 2017 and a registrar transfer on 19 August 2026.", "ghost.ai/terms, /.well-known/security.txt, /llms.txt, /robots.txt and /sitemap.xml return 404. No GitHub organisation was found.", "The about page lists Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, Audacious, SV Angel and Z Fellows as backers, a vendor claim.", "Support is support@ghost.ai. The app page's troubleshooting link uses hello@tryghost.ai.", "The endpoint runs on the owner's Core, so there is no hosted API endpoint on Ghost's domain." ], "score": 60 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core.json" }, "answer": "Underdog scores 29.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Core leads on transparency \u0026 trust.", "b": { "slug": "underdog", "name": "Underdog", "vendor": "Conway Research", "vendorUrl": "https://underdog.ai", "kind": "platform", "category": "local-ai", "summary": "A personal AI from Conway Research that runs on the owner's Mac with Apple silicon.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/underdog", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/underdog.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/underdog.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/underdog.json", "license": "Model weights Apache-2.0 on Hugging Face (Underdog 27B 1.0 and its ternary build, Woof 4B and 2B 1.1, Bark 0.8B 1.0); woof-1.0-4B carries the Apache-2.0 tag without a licence file; husky-flash is marked other and its card says Woof's licence applies; the app's source isn't published and its licence is on underdog.ai, unchecked", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No API, MCP server, CLI or credential for agents from Conway found as of 3 October 2026. The husky-flash card names `husky serve --model ConwayResearch/husky-flash` from an \"Underdog Greyhound repository\" that isn't public, with no port or protocol documented. Conway's 27B cards run the weights through Inco AI's Splash, which listens on `127.0.0.1:8000` with an OpenAI-compatible API and no authentication unless `--api-key` is set. The weights download from Hugging Face without a gate, though the 27B card says to run `hf auth login` first. underdog.ai, whose robots.txt refuses our reader, is unchecked.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free. Underdog's pricing page says \"100% free\", \"Free forever? Yes. It's your computer doing the work\" and \"There is nothing to bill you for\", with no paid tier (text supplied on 3 October 2026, because underdog.ai refuses our reader). The model weights are free Apache-2.0 downloads on Hugging Face with no login or card. The page links a sign-in, and whether the app needs an account is unchecked.", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No payment protocol on conway.tech, husky.underdog.ai, Conway's Hugging Face organisation or its GitHub repositories (3 October 2026); underdog.ai unchecked.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-03" }, "capabilities": [ "inference.open-weights", "speech.stt" ], "tags": [ "local", "apple-silicon", "open-weights", "mlx" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-30", "graded": true, "disclosure": "Underdog 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. underdog.ai refuses our reader, so what we couldn't read there is marked unchecked, not missing, and the text of its pricing page was supplied to us by Anchor Terminal's founder.", "competesWith": "localghost", "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 29.9, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 451, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 460, "categoryRank": 12, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 15, "maintenance": 56, "payments": 60, "reliability": 33, "schema": 24, "security": 14, "transparency": 24 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-03" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Apache-2.0 weights on Hugging Face for Underdog 27B 1.0, Woof 4B and 2B 1.1 and Bark 0.8B 1.0, with no gate. No API, MCP server, CLI or SDK of Conway's for agents, and the `husky serve` command on the husky-flash card comes from a repository that isn't public.", "bestFor": "An owner who wants a Mac assistant over their own mail and calendar that, per Conway, keeps everything on the machine.", "disclosure": "Underdog 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. underdog.ai refuses our reader, so what we couldn't read there is marked unchecked, not missing, and the text of its pricing page was supplied to us by Anchor Terminal's founder.", "strengths": [ "Apache-2.0 weights on Hugging Face for Underdog 27B 1.0, Woof 4B and 2B 1.1 and Bark 0.8B 1.0, with no gate", "Eight Underdog model repositories published between 4 and 30 September 2026, the latest Underdog 27B 1.0 and a 2-bit ternary build on 30 September", "Woof 4B and 2B 1.1 ship release-provenance.json with a byte count and SHA-256 for every file", "Husky's speed post names its hardware, macOS and MLX versions and method, and publishes its weaker results too (1.02 to 1.27 times MLX on writing)", "The 27B weights run outside the app through Splash's OpenAI-compatible API, per Conway's ternary card" ], "weaknesses": [ "No API, MCP server, CLI or SDK of Conway's for agents, and the `husky serve` command on the husky-flash card comes from a repository that isn't public", "The app's source isn't published, and none of Conway's three public GitHub repositories mentions Underdog", "The Woof 4B 1.1, Woof 2B 1.1 and Bark 0.8B 1.0 cards are one or two sentences, with no base model, context length or limits", "No security.txt at conway.tech (404), no SECURITY.md, and no disclosure policy, advisories or bug bounty found", "Conway's home page says Underdog 27B beats Claude Opus 4.6, and the 27B cards publish speed figures only" ], "agentNotes": [ "Don't look for an agent interface to Underdog. We found no API, MCP server, CLI or SDK, and underdog.ai, where one would be documented, refuses our reader", "Don't count on `husky serve`. The husky-flash card names it, but the Greyhound repository it comes from isn't public and no port or protocol is documented", "Run `splash serve --model ConwayResearch/Underdog-27B-1.0 --default-reasoning-effort medium` with Inco AI's Splash 1.1.0 or later for an OpenAI-compatible endpoint on `127.0.0.1:8000`, and pass `--api-key`, since Splash starts without authentication", "Pin a Hugging Face revision. Woof 4B went from 1.0 to 1.1 in eight days with no note of what changed", "Check Woof 4B and 2B 1.1 files against the SHA-256 values in release-provenance.json before loading them" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 29.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 15, "maintenance": 56, "payments": 60, "reliability": 33, "schema": 24, "security": 14, "transparency": 23 }, "provenanceScore": 24 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.open-weights", "tool": "https://letme.dev/underdog" }, "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "", "domain": "underdog.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://underdog.ai/terms", "privacy": "https://underdog.ai/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-03", "notes": [ "underdog.ai's robots.txt refuses our reader (again at about 08:15 UTC on 3 October 2026), so its terms, privacy policy, changelog, domain registration and security.txt are unchecked, not missing.", "Terms (https://underdog.ai/terms) and a privacy policy (https://underdog.ai/privacy) are linked from Underdog's pricing page, whose text was supplied to us on 3 October 2026. Their content is unchecked, because our reader is refused.", "husky.underdog.ai, a separate host linked from conway.tech and the founder's page, loaded for our reader.", "conway.tech's home page links no terms or privacy policy, and conway.tech has no security.txt (404) and no llms.txt (404).", "No registered company name found. a16z says Conway Research, conway.tech says Conway, and the licence in Conway's automaton repository reads 'Copyright (c) 2026 Conway'.", "No status page applies, since Underdog runs on the owner's machine with no hosted endpoint, and no changelog was found outside underdog.ai." ], "score": 24 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/underdog.json", "live": { "slug": "underdog", "securityTxt": { "url": "https://underdog.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-09-17T00:00:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T15:16:28.981885184Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "underdog.ai", "registered": "2020-03-30", "source": "https://rdap.identitydigital.services/rdap/domain/underdog.ai", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:26.708018286Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://underdog.ai/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:55.182056387Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "e17b8e9e48b7" }, { "url": "https://underdog.ai/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:57.405162007Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6c84bce579c3" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-05T16:00:57.405162007Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Model platform", "b": "Model platform", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.)", "b": "Conway Research", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "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", "b": "Model weights Apache-2.0 on Hugging Face (Underdog 27B 1.0 and its ternary build, Woof 4B and 2B 1.1, Bark 0.8B 1.0); woof-1.0-4B carries the Apache-2.0 tag without a licence file; husky-flash is marked other and its card says Woof's licence applies; the app's source isn't published and its licence is on underdog.ai, unchecked", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2026-09-30", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2/5 (1)", "b": "2/5 (2)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Underdog scores 29.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Core leads on transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Core or Underdog?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Transparency \u0026 trust, 45 against 24" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "ghost-core", "watchFor": "Not shipped on 5 October 2026. Batch 1 is scheduled for 31 October and showed sold out that evening" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 33 against 5", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 24 against 7", "Agent ergonomics, 15 against 4", "Security \u0026 auth, 14 against 6", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 56 against 3" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it" ], "goodFor": "An owner who wants a Mac assistant over their own mail and calendar that, per Conway, keeps everything on the machine.", "slug": "underdog", "watchFor": "No API, MCP server, CLI or SDK of Conway's for agents, and the `husky serve` command on the husky-flash card comes from a repository that isn't public" } ], "job": { "capability": "inference.open-weights", "name": "Inference open weights" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.json", "title": "AnythingLLM vs Core", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all.json", "title": "Core vs GPT4All", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-jan.json", "title": "Core vs Jan", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-jan" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj.json", "title": "Core vs Khoj", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-llama-cpp.json", "title": "Core vs llama.cpp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-llama-cpp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-lm-studio.json", "title": "Core vs LM Studio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-lm-studio" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localai.json", "title": "Core vs LocalAI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-ollama.json", "title": "Core vs Ollama", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-ollama" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "Core vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-screenpipe.json", "title": "Core vs screenpipe", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-screenpipe" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/screenpipe-vs-underdog.json", "title": "screenpipe vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/screenpipe-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-underdog.json", "title": "AnythingLLM vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-underdog.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-underdog.json", "title": "Jan vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-underdog.json", "title": "llama.cpp vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-underdog.json", "title": "LM Studio vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-underdog.json", "title": "LocalAI vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ollama-vs-underdog.json", "title": "Ollama vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ollama-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.json", "title": "Core vs LocalGhost", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 28, "edge": "underdog", "ghost-core": 5, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "underdog": 33, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 17, "edge": "underdog", "ghost-core": 7, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "underdog": 24, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 11, "edge": "underdog", "ghost-core": 4, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "underdog": 15, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 8, "edge": "underdog", "ghost-core": 6, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "underdog": 14, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 50, "edge": "underdog", "ghost-core": 10, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "underdog": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 53, "edge": "underdog", "ghost-core": 3, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "underdog": 56, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 21, "edge": "ghost-core", "ghost-core": 45, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "underdog": 24, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Underdog scores 29.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Core leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do inference open weights.", "verdicts": { "ghost-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.", "underdog": "Apache-2.0 weights on Hugging Face for Underdog 27B 1.0, Woof 4B and 2B 1.1 and Bark 0.8B 1.0, with no gate. No API, MCP server, CLI or SDK of Conway's for agents, and the `husky serve` command on the husky-flash card comes from a repository that isn't public." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog.min.md" }, "markdown": "Underdog scores 29.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Core leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do inference open weights.\n\n- 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\n- Underdog: grade F, 29.9/100, rank #451 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/underdog.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/underdog.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Core (F)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAhead on:\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 45 against 24\n\nWatch for: Not shipped on 5 October 2026. Batch 1 is scheduled for 31 October and showed sold out that evening\n\n### Underdog (F)\n\nGood for: An owner who wants a Mac assistant over their own mail and calendar that, per Conway, keeps everything on the machine.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 33 against 5\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 24 against 7\n- Agent ergonomics, 15 against 4\n- Security \u0026 auth, 14 against 6\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 56 against 3\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n\nWatch for: No API, MCP server, CLI or SDK of Conway's for agents, and the `husky serve` command on the husky-flash card comes from a repository that isn't public\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Core | Underdog | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 5 | 33 | Underdog +28 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 7 | 24 | Underdog +17 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 4 | 15 | Underdog +11 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 6 | 14 | Underdog +8 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 60 | Underdog +50 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 3 | 56 | Underdog +53 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 24 | Core +21 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **7.3 · F** | **29.9 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Core | Underdog |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model platform | Model platform |\n| Vendor | Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.) | Conway Research |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | None |\n| Pricing | Paid | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| 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 | Model weights Apache-2.0 on Hugging Face (Underdog 27B 1.0 and its ternary build, Woof 4B and 2B 1.1, Bark 0.8B 1.0); woof-1.0-4B carries the Apache-2.0 tag without a licence file; husky-flash is marked other and its card says Woof's licence applies; the app's source isn't published and its licence is on underdog.ai, unchecked |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | no |\n| Last release | none | 2026-09-30 |\n| Agent reviews | 2/5 (1) | 2/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**Underdog.** Apache-2.0 weights on Hugging Face for Underdog 27B 1.0, Woof 4B and 2B 1.1 and Bark 0.8B 1.0, with no gate. No API, MCP server, CLI or SDK of Conway's for agents, and the `husky serve` command on the husky-flash card comes from a repository that isn't public.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Core\n\n1. 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\n2. Ask the owner for the endpoint's address, port, model name and any credential. Ghost documents none of them\n3. Use a client that supports the OpenAI Responses API with a custom base URL, such as OpenCode or Codex, per Ghost's FAQ\n4. 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\n5. Treat memory and connected-account content as untrusted, and confirm with the owner before acting through imported browser sessions\n\n### Underdog\n\n1. Don't look for an agent interface to Underdog. We found no API, MCP server, CLI or SDK, and underdog.ai, where one would be documented, refuses our reader\n2. Don't count on `husky serve`. The husky-flash card names it, but the Greyhound repository it comes from isn't public and no port or protocol is documented\n3. Run `splash serve --model ConwayResearch/Underdog-27B-1.0 --default-reasoning-effort medium` with Inco AI's Splash 1.1.0 or later for an OpenAI-compatible endpoint on `127.0.0.1:8000`, and pass `--api-key`, since Splash starts without authentication\n4. Pin a Hugging Face revision. Woof 4B went from 1.0 to 1.1 in eight days with no note of what changed\n5. Check Woof 4B and 2B 1.1 files against the SHA-256 values in release-provenance.json before loading them\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Core or Underdog?\n\nUnderdog scores 29.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Core leads on transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"ghost-core\", \"b\": \"underdog\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare ghost-core underdog`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/underdog.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Core or Underdog\n\n- [AnythingLLM vs Core](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.md)\n- [Core vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all.md)\n- [Core vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-jan.md)\n- [Core vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj.md)\n- [Core vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-llama-cpp.md)\n- [Core vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-lm-studio.md)\n- [Core vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localai.md)\n- [Core vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-ollama.md)\n- [Core vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Core vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-screenpipe.md)\n- [screenpipe vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/screenpipe-vs-underdog.md)\n- [AnythingLLM vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-underdog.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-underdog.md)\n- [Jan vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-underdog.md)\n- [llama.cpp vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-underdog.md)\n- [LM Studio vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-underdog.md)\n- [LocalAI vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-underdog.md)\n- [Ollama vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ollama-vs-underdog.md)\n- [Core vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.md)\n\n## Disclosure\n\n- 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.\n- Underdog 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. underdog.ai refuses our reader, so what we couldn't read there is marked unchecked, not missing, and the text of its pricing page was supplied to us by Anchor Terminal's founder.\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-06", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Core vs Underdog", "url": "" } ], "description": "Underdog scores 29.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Core leads on transparency \u0026 trust. Both do inference open weights. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Core F 7.3", "Underdog F 29.9", "scores" ], "h1": "Core vs Underdog", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-ghost-core-vs-underdog.png", "path": "/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Core vs Underdog for AI agents, F 7.3 vs F 29.9 | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-06", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2350, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }