Show HN: Dyad – free, local, open-source AI app builder (v0/lovable alternative) (opens in new tab)

(dyad.sh)

6 pointswillchen11mo ago5 comments

Hi HN -

I'm excited to share a free, local, open-source AI app builder that I created. You can see what it looks like and download it here: https://dyad.sh/

It's open-source and on GitHub: https://github.com/dyad-sh/dyad

If you've used one of the popular AI app builders like v0, lovable and bolt, but want something more flexible and without the lock-in, I think you'll like dyad.

note: dyad isn't an IDE (and not another VS code fork :) and instead is focused on people, esp. non-coders, who want an all-in-one tool to build+preview web apps in a simple intuitive desktop UI.

Here's a few things that makes it different:

- Runs locally - Dyad runs entirely on your computer, making it fast and frictionless. Because your code lives locally, you can easily switch back and forth between Dyad and your IDE like Cursor, etc.

- Run local models - I've just added Ollama integration (https://www.dyad.sh/docs/guides/ai-models/local-models), which lets you build with your favorite local LLMs.

- Free - Dyad is free and bring-your-own API key. This means you can use your free Gemini API key and get 25 free messages/day with Gemini Pro 2.5!

I’d love any feedback. Thanks!

5 comments

jcjvm10mo ago

Very nice! I've been using Dyad a little to play around with. Still rough around the edges, but looks promising. I look forward to each new version. Keep up the good work!

davidfiala11mo ago

Very nice!

Regarding the localness, are you optimizing or targeting users that prefer only local inference? The part about API keys at the end makes me wonder if there's any practical difference outside of lower local resource requirements and access to private models on the clound.

Do you recommend or force that people use any specific languages or frameworks that dyad is optimized to render or iterate on locally?

willchenOP11mo ago

thank you!

I definitely want to support users who want to use cloud inference or local inference because you do need a pretty beefy machine to run the top open source models.

Right now Dyad supports React (vite), but i'm working on supporting more frameworks in the future! (other languages is probably further off)

I think practically, the nice part with Dyad is that all the code is on your computer, so if you want to switch back and forth with Cursor/VS Code, it's seamless.

cadamsdotcom10mo ago

It's a beautiful app, well documented, with lots of potential and a few rough edges still.

But it does local models via ollama, supports multiple chats, and can get an app stood up just the same as Bolt, v0, Lovable, et al.

Stoked this is being built, looking forward to seeing what it becomes!

willchenOP10mo ago

thank you! agree there's still rough edges, making lots of improvements each week to make it better :)

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