Compare
Convira vs Ollama
Ollama information last checked: 26 October 2026
Ollama and Convira work at different layers. Ollama downloads and runs open models on your own machine. Convira is a desktop agent that uses a model, including an Ollama-compatible one running locally, to carry out the work itself: editing the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files already on your disk, driving a browser you can watch, and stopping for your approval before anything sensitive happens. Ollama gives you a model. Convira puts it to work.
What Ollama is
Ollama is a free, open-source tool for running large language models locally. You pull a model with a single command and it serves that model on your machine over a local API. It has become a common standard in the local-model world, which is why so much other software speaks its protocol. It also offers models hosted in its own cloud, with paid plans from $20 a month.
Ollama focuses on serving the model, with a simple chat app on top. Editing documents in place, a browser, connected apps and permissions are left to whatever you build on top of it.
What Convira does differently
Convira is the layer above, delivered as a finished product rather than a toolkit. It opens the real .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .pdf files where they already sit on your disk, writes them back in place, and preserves everything you did not ask it to change.
It also carries the safeguards that matter once software is allowed to touch your files. 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. Sensitive actions pause for your approval. An automatic local backup is taken before Convira's file and document tools modify or remove a file, and restoring recovers a copy rather than overwriting anything. Every step stays visible while the run is in progress, and you can stop or redirect it.
And it reaches beyond the local model when you want it to. The same session can move to a Private Box running far larger open models on your own network, or to hosted frontier models in the cloud, without switching tools.
Side by side
| Convira | Ollama | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A desktop agent that does the work on your files | A runtime for serving local models |
| Works on documents on your disk | Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, edited in place | Not built in; you build it against the API |
| Where the model runs | Your machine, a Private Box on your LAN, or hosted models | Your machine, or Ollama's cloud |
| Runs offline | Yes, on the Local runtime | Yes |
| OS-level sandboxing of agent actions | Bubblewrap namespaces, Seatbelt, AppContainer | Not applicable - it serves a model, it does not act |
| Approval before sensitive actions | Yes | Not applicable |
| Automatic backup before a file changes | Yes | Not applicable |
| Connected apps | 1,000+ connectors on Pro and higher plans | None |
| Price | From $9/month | Free; cloud plans from $20/month |
When Convira is the right choice
- What you want at the end is a finished file, not a conversation you then act on yourself.
- The work should happen to the documents already on your disk, in place, with everything you did not ask about left alone.
- You want a visible record of what changed and a backup you can restore from.
- You want an agent to stop and ask before it sends, posts or changes anything.
- You want the option to reach a bigger hosted model or a Private Box when a task outgrows your laptop, without switching tools.
Using both
This is the most common setup. Convira's Local runtime runs Ollama-compatible models on your machine. Once models are downloaded it keeps working with no connection, and a one-click Offline Mode toggle in the app footer blocks all outgoing traffic except your own machine's local services and Convira's sign-in and licensing endpoints, cutting off in-flight requests the moment you flip it.
So if you already keep models on your machine, Convira is the layer that puts them to work on your documents. The only things that use the network are a billed online tool you choose to run, such as web research, media generation or a connector action, and the app's licensing check-in, which keeps local work running offline for up to 24 hours at a time.
Common questions
Does Convira use Ollama?
Convira's Local runtime runs Ollama-compatible models. It ships a curated catalog alongside that, and the model picker checks your hardware and shows which choices actually fit, so you are not comparing model sizes by hand.
Which parts of Convira are open source?
The operating-system sandbox layer that confines the tools Convira runs is published under Apache 2.0 as convira-sandbox on GitHub, so you can read and run the code that decides what a tool may touch.
Can Convira work with no internet connection at all?
Yes. On the Local runtime, once models are downloaded, Convira works with no connection for up to 24 hours between the app's licensing check-ins. A one-click Offline Mode toggle in the app footer blocks all outgoing traffic except your own machine's local services and Convira's sign-in and licensing endpoints. Billed online tools such as web research and connector actions use managed keys, so they run only when you are online.
What does Convira cost?
Convira starts at $9 a month for the Local plan: on-device AI and on-device tools. Models that run on your own hardware never consume credits.
Convira facts on this page come from How it works, Security and Pricing, and are the same ones published there. If anything about Ollama is out of date or unfair, tell us at support@convira.ai and we will correct it.