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Convira vs LM Studio
LM Studio information last checked: 28 July 2026
LM Studio is the most comfortable way to find, download and chat with open models on your own machine, and it is free. Convira is not trying to be a better version of that. It is built for the step afterwards: taking a model - local or hosted - and having it do the work on the documents already on your disk, under permissions you set, with the originals backed up first. If you are trying to work out which local model to run, LM Studio answers that better than anything. If you are trying to get a deck rebuilt by Thursday, it is a different kind of tool.
What LM Studio is
LM Studio is a desktop application for running large language models locally. It gives you a searchable catalog of open models, handles downloading and quantization choices, provides a polished chat interface, and can expose a local API endpoint for other software to use.
It is squarely a model workbench, and a good one. The centre of it is the conversation and the model itself: which model you are running, how it is configured, and how it performs on your hardware.
What Convira does differently
Convira starts from the file rather than from the model. It opens the .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .pdf files where they already are, changes what you asked for, leaves the rest untouched, and saves them back in place so the result is a document you can send rather than text you have to paste somewhere.
Around that sit the controls a chat window has no reason to have. Code and subprocess execution run under operating-system-level isolation - a Bubblewrap namespace jail on Linux, a deny-by-default Seatbelt profile on macOS, and an AppContainer with a Job Object constraining the process tree on Windows. Every other action passes through permission gates and network controls. Outbound actions that post, send or change records pause for approval. An automatic local backup is taken before Convira's file and document tools modify or remove a file - terminal commands you approve can write without one - and restoring recovers a copy rather than overwriting anything. Work stays visible while it runs, and you can stop or redirect it mid-task.
And where the model runs is a setting rather than the product. Local runs the model on your machine and keeps working with no connection for up to 24 hours between the app's licensing check-ins; a Private Box runs a larger model on hardware you control on your own network; Cloud reaches hosted frontier models when a task is too big for a laptop. You switch between the modes your plan includes inside the same session.
The cost side is straightforward: LM Studio is free to download and Convira starts at $9 a month with no free tier or trial. Convira's app is closed source too - only its OS confinement layer is published, under Apache 2.0 as convira-sandbox on GitHub.
Side by side
| Convira | LM Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A desktop agent that does work on your files | A desktop app for running and chatting with local models |
| Model discovery and tuning | Curated catalog plus Ollama-compatible models, picker checks hardware fit | Its strength - broad catalog, quantization and parameter control |
| Edits documents on your disk | Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, in place | No |
| Browser automation | Yes, a browser you can watch, on Pro and higher plans | No |
| Where the model runs | Your machine, a Private Box on your LAN, or hosted models | Your machine |
| Runs offline | Yes, on the Local runtime - for up to 24 hours between licensing check-ins | Yes |
| OS-level sandboxing of agent actions | Bubblewrap namespaces, Seatbelt, AppContainer | Not applicable - it does not take actions on your behalf |
| Automatic backup before a file changes | Yes, for file and document tools - approved terminal commands can write without one | Not applicable |
| Connected apps | Over 1,000 connectors on Pro and higher plans - none on the offline-only Local plan | None |
| Price | From $9/month, no free tier | Free to download |
| Platforms | macOS 12+ on Apple silicon, Windows 10/11 x64, Linux x86_64 | Broader, including Intel Macs |
When LM Studio is the better choice
- You want to try many models and compare them on your own hardware. That is what it is built for.
- You want a free tool, with no subscription at all.
- Chatting with a model is the whole job, and you will do the resulting work yourself.
- You want fine control over quantization, context length and sampling parameters.
- You are on an Intel Mac or other hardware outside Convira's supported list.
When Convira is the better choice
- The output you need is a finished document, not an answer you then retype into one.
- You want an agent that can also use a browser and your connected apps, not only a model.
- You want approvals, visible steps and restorable backups around anything that touches your files.
- You want one app that can run on-device for sensitive work and reach a hosted model for heavy work.
- You are working with material you cannot upload anywhere, and you want that enforced rather than promised.
Using both
They coexist comfortably. Plenty of people keep LM Studio for exploring and benchmarking models and use Convira when a task has to end in a changed file. Convira's Local runtime is Ollama-compatible, so open models you already know suit your hardware are a reasonable starting point there too.
Common questions
Can Convira browse and download models like LM Studio does?
Not in the same way. Convira ships a curated local catalog and supports compatible Ollama models, and the model picker checks your available hardware and shows which choices fit. It is deliberately narrower than a model workbench: the goal is a working setup rather than a full catalog to explore.
Is Convira free like LM Studio?
No. Convira starts at $9 a month for the Local plan and there is no free tier or free trial. LM Studio is free to download.
Does Convira need a subscription to use local models?
Yes. The Local plan at $9 a month covers on-device AI and on-device tools, and uses no cloud credits. Local and Private Box inference never consume credits. Tools that reach the network, browser automation included, need Pro or above.
What happens to my files while Convira works on them?
An automatic local backup is taken before Convira's file and document tools modify or remove a file. Terminal commands you approve can write without a backup, so read those prompts. Restoring recovers a copy to a location you choose, so both the file you are working on and the safety copy stay intact. Backups are kept on the device with a quota and retention period you set.
Convira facts on this page come from How it works, Security and Pricing, and are the same ones published there. If anything about LM Studio is out of date or unfair, tell us at support@convira.ai and we will correct it.