Personal AI has gone from a niche developer project to something your parents have probably asked you about. There are dozens of options now, ranging from cloud chatbots to desktop agents that run locally. But most of them have a problem: they reset every single conversation. You have to re-introduce yourself. Explain your preferences. Start over.
We spent time with the most popular options to figure out which ones are actually useful for everyday people, not just developers. Here's what we found.
What we looked for
There are thousands of AI tools. For this comparison, we focused on personal AI agents specifically - tools designed to be your ongoing companion, not a one-off chatbot. We evaluated each on four criteria:
- Memory - does it remember you across sessions?
- Ease of use - can a non-technical person set it up and use it daily?
- Always-on availability - is it running when you need it, or do you have to open a browser tab?
- Privacy - where does your data go?
The options
The most widely used AI in the world. Excellent at answering questions, writing, and general tasks. The web and mobile apps are polished and fast.
Best for: one-off tasks and questions. Not great as a persistent personal companion since memory is limited and it doesn't run in the background.
Designed to be warm and supportive rather than task-focused. Pi is pleasant to talk to and does remember some context about you over time.
Best for: emotional support and casual conversation. Less capable at complex tasks and research.
Google's AI assistant with strong web search integration. Works well if you're already in the Google ecosystem. Has some cross-session memory with a Google account.
Best for: quick web research and users already deep in Google Workspace.
Purpose-built around the concept of a personal memory layer. You feed it information about yourself and it builds a model of who you are. Genuinely interesting approach, though setup takes effort.
Best for: people willing to invest in building a detailed personal memory base. Requires more upfront work than most.
Lindy is more of an AI automation platform than a personal companion. It shines at running workflows and handling repetitive tasks. Less useful for open-ended conversation or daily companionship.
Best for: automating repetitive business tasks, not for personal day-to-day AI companionship.
The winner: what most people actually need
After going through all of these, a pattern emerged. The most popular options (ChatGPT, Gemini) are excellent tools, but they're not truly personal. They reset. They live in browser tabs. They don't know you beyond what you tell them in that session.
The memory-focused tools are closer to the right idea, but they're either cloud-dependent, require significant setup, or are aimed at technical users.
What most people actually want is simpler: an AI that's always running, knows who they are, gets smarter over time, and doesn't require any technical background to set up and use. That's a different category entirely.
Forge is the only option we tested that's designed from the ground up to be a persistent, always-on personal AI agent for people who don't want to think about the tech. It runs as a background app on your computer, works in the Forge app, iMessage, Telegram, and Discord, and builds a long-term memory of who you are automatically.
The setup is genuinely simple: download, open, start talking. No API keys, no configuration, no terminal. It handles the complexity so you don't have to.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Persistent Memory | No Setup Required | Runs in Background | Works in Messaging Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forge AI | Yes, auto-builds | Yes | Yes | Forge app, iMessage, Telegram, Discord |
| ChatGPT | Limited (paid) | Yes | No | No |
| Pi | Moderate | Yes | No | No |
| Gemini | Basic | Yes | No | No |
| Personal.ai | Yes (manual) | Requires setup | No | No |
| Lindy | Task-scoped | Moderate setup | Partial | No |
Bottom line
If you want the most capable tool for one-off tasks, ChatGPT is still the benchmark. If you want something warm and conversational, Pi is pleasant. But if what you actually want is an AI that knows you, is always there, and works the way people expected AI to work when they first heard about it, Forge is the only option in this list that delivers on that promise - and the only one built specifically for people who don't want to become AI experts just to use it.
Ready to try a personal AI agent that actually works?
Forge runs on your computer, builds your memory automatically, and is ready whenever you need it. No tech skills required.
Get Forge AI - Forged for You