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Comparisons

June vs ChatGPT desktop

Updated July 2, 2026

A desktop AI app sees more of your work than a chatbot tab ever did: your files, your meetings, your voice, your screen. That is exactly why where it sends everything matters more on the desktop than anywhere else.

The ChatGPT Mac app is a window into OpenAI's cloud. Your chats are stored there and train its models by default, its agent runs on OpenAI's virtual machines, and app content you share is sent to its servers. June is built the other way around: the agent runs on your Mac, your data stays on your disk, model calls route to zero-retention models by default, and the whole thing is open source.

The short answer

Choose June if you want a desktop AI workspace where the agent runs on your Mac, your conversations stay on your disk, model calls route to zero-retention models by default, and the code is open source so you can verify all of it. ChatGPT fits if you want OpenAI's frontier models and ecosystem, and accept that your chats live on OpenAI's servers and train its models by default on consumer plans.

ChatGPT
Agent runs on your deviceOpenAI cloud VM
No training on your chats by defaultOpt-out toggle
Zero-retention model routing by default
Conversations stored on your device
Meeting notes without a botRecord mode, paid plans
Voice dictation into any app
Works on Intel MacsApple Silicon only
Ad-free on the free planAds in the US
Open sourceMIT
PriceFree, Pro $20/moFree with ads, $8 to $200/mo

Comparison as of July 2, 2026, based on each product's public pricing, docs, and privacy pages. Spotted something out of date? Tell us in the community and we will fix it.

Choose ChatGPT if

  • Your work depends on OpenAI's specific frontier models or tools like Deep Research and Codex, and the data tradeoffs on this page are acceptable to you.
  • You work across Windows, web, and mobile and want the same assistant everywhere.
  • You are on a business or enterprise plan, the tiers where OpenAI does not train on your data by default.

Choose June if

  • You want an agent that acts on your Mac, where your files already are, instead of uploading your work to a company's VM.
  • You do not want your chats used for training. On consumer ChatGPT plans that is on by default; June never trains on your data.
  • You want your conversations stored on your device. OpenSoftware keeps only account, login, and billing records, so there is very little about you to retain, request, or leak.
  • You want dictation into any app and meeting notes without a bot, included free.
  • You want to verify instead of trust: June is open source and its backend runs in a TEE with cryptographic attestation.

Where your words go

Every ChatGPT conversation lives on OpenAI's servers, and on consumer plans it is used to improve OpenAI's models unless you find the opt-out. Temporary chats still sit on their servers for up to 30 days.

The risk of that architecture stopped being hypothetical in 2025, when a court order in the New York Times case forced OpenAI to preserve consumer chats, including ones users had deleted, and in January 2026 a judge affirmed that 20 million conversations be handed to plaintiffs in de-identified form. None of that is carelessness by OpenAI. It is simply what can happen to data that lives on someone else's servers.

June's answer is to hold almost nothing. Chats, notes, transcripts, and agent sessions are stored on your Mac. Model calls route to zero-retention models by default, so nothing is stored and nothing is trained on. OpenSoftware keeps only account, login, and billing records.

Two very different agents

ChatGPT's agent runs entirely on an OpenAI-hosted virtual machine in the cloud. To act on your work, your work has to go to it: files uploaded, context shared, results stored in your ChatGPT history on OpenAI's servers.

June's agent is built on the open-source Hermes framework and runs on your Mac, sandboxed by default, with approvals for anything risky. Your files, memory, and sessions never leave your disk; only the model calls do, through zero-retention routing. The agent can make mistakes, and we say so. The guardrails are the point.

The desktop details

Some practical differences add up on a Mac. ChatGPT's desktop app requires Apple Silicon; June also runs on Intel Macs. OpenAI retired voice mode from its Mac app in January 2026; June's dictation types polished text into any app with a keypress. ChatGPT's record mode is reserved for paid plans and stores results on OpenAI's servers; June's meeting notes are part of the free plan, with the recording, transcript, and notes stored on your Mac.

Frequently asked questions

For everyday desktop AI, yes: chat, research, dictation, meeting notes, and agent tasks in one private workspace, with strong zero-retention models by default and a catalog to pick from, each labeled with its privacy tier. The exception is work that depends on one specific OpenAI model; if that is you, you already know it.

On consumer plans, yes by default: OpenAI uses your chats to improve its models unless you turn that off in data controls. Business and enterprise plans are excluded by default. June never trains on your data on any plan, and its default model routing is zero retention.

Yes. Record mode captures meetings from your Mac and produces a transcript and summary, on paid plans, with the results stored in your ChatGPT history on OpenAI's servers. June's meeting notes are included free and stored on your Mac.

June defaults to private Venice models with zero data retention and lets you choose from a catalog of models. Every model in the picker shows a privacy tier: E2EE, Private, or Anonymous, so you know exactly what a switch means.

Sources

Claims about other products come from their own public pages, checked on the date at the top of this page.

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Free to start. macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel.

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