Crux
Summary
Most AI assistants run in a browser tab, which means your files stay on your machine while the assistant lives somewhere else — you're constantly bridging that gap manually. Crux closes it by running directly on your desktop, reaching your local files, apps, and messaging services without anything leaving your machine.
The core loop is agentic: you describe a task, and Crux reads files, runs scripts, writes outputs, and edits code — showing you every change before it lands. The vendor demonstrates this with bank statement analysis that reads a CSV, generates a spending report, and patches a budget tracker in one pass. A global overlay (summoned by a single shortcut) lets it operate on top of any open window, so it can read your screen and answer questions about whatever app is in front of you. The beta label on both Mac and Windows builds is real — treat it accordingly before putting it in a daily critical workflow.
Bottom line: Crux earns its place as a local-first personal task runner for file analysis and code edits on a single machine; it hits its limit the moment you need API integrations, team-shared context, or anything that requires running headless on a server.
Pricing Plans
- Price
- $10 one-time
Crux
$10 one-time purchase
- Download for Mac and Windows
- Local operation
View full pricing on qunt.in →
Pricing may have changed since last verified. Check the official site for current plans.
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Pros
Sign in to edit- Full local execution — files, chat history, and context never leave your machine — so teams with strict data-handling requirements can use an AI agent without routing sensitive documents through a third-party API.
- Agentic task sequencing reads files, runs scripts, and edits code in a single pass with every change surfaced for review before it commits, which means you catch errors before they propagate rather than untangling them after the fact.
- Screen-aware overlay mode reads whatever application is currently open and can answer questions or suggest edits in context, eliminating the copy-paste shuttle between a chat window and the tool you're actually working in.
- Self-hosted desktop architecture means there is no per-seat API bill scaling with usage, so personal and small-team workloads do not incur the compounding costs that cloud-hosted agents accumulate over a month.
- Workspace sidebar surfaces connected messaging services (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord) alongside local files, so task context from conversations and from your filesystem sit in the same session without switching tools.
Cons
Sign in to edit- No API is exposed, so Crux cannot be called by another script, scheduled by a cron job, or embedded in a pipeline — any team that needs their agent to run headless or trigger on an event rather than a human shortcut has to choose a different tool entirely.
- Both Mac and Windows builds carry a beta designation at the time of listing, which means interface changes, file-handling edge cases, and crash recovery are live risks; production workflows that cannot tolerate unscheduled breakage need to wait for a stable release or use an established alternative.
- The assistant learns context from your local machine only, so the moment a second team member needs the same shared context — the same file history, the same chat memory, the same agent state — there is no sync mechanism described in the vendor's documentation; teams that reach that coordination need will move to a multi-user platform.
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About
- Platforms
- Mac (Apple silicon), Windows
- API Available
- No
- Self-Hosted
- Yes
- Last Updated
- 2026-07-19T03:18:02.825Z
Best For
Who it's for
- Users needing local desktop AI assistance
- File and workflow automation on personal machines
- Privacy-focused AI interactions
What it does well
- Analyze bank statements and generate spending reports
- Edit code and fix bugs in local files
- Prepare itineraries, meal plans, and study notes
- Interact with desktop apps and messaging services
Integrations
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Crux free?
- Crux is a paid tool ($10 one-time). No permanent free tier is offered.
- Is Crux open source?
- No — Crux is a closed-source tool. Source code is not publicly available.
- Can I self-host Crux?
- Yes. Crux supports self-hosting on your own infrastructure.
- What platforms does Crux support?
- Crux is available on: Mac (Apple silicon), Windows.
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Curated lists that include this category
Crux is a desktop AI assistant built by Crux (the company) that operates across your local files, running applications, and messaging services like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Discord. The documented workflow shows it accepting a plain-language request, then sequencing tool calls — reading CSVs, executing Python scripts, writing markdown reports, editing source files — and surfacing every change for review before committing. Nothing in that loop requires a cloud upload; the vendor states your chats, files, and context remain local to your machine.
The differentiating feature is the overlay layer: a floating interface summoned by a keyboard shortcut (Cmd+Shift+Space on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+Space on Windows) that sits above every open application. The page shows it reading a live app’s UI, answering ‘where is the dark mode toggle?’ by circling the element on screen, and making UI edits to a running web project on request. This screen-awareness is what separates it from a local LLM wrapper that only touches files you explicitly drag in.
Crux fits individuals or small teams who want a local agent for personal productivity — financial tracking, code maintenance, trip planning, study notes — and who treat data privacy as a non-negotiable constraint. It does not expose an API, so it cannot be embedded in a pipeline or called programmatically by another service. Both the Mac and Windows builds carry a beta designation, which the vendor communicates directly on the download page. Teams that need multi-user shared context, server-side scheduling, or integration into existing CI/CD tooling will reach that ceiling quickly.