AI Assistant for Linux That Sees Your Screen.
What is the best AI assistant for Linux?
On Linux the screen-aware desktop AI assistant that also acts in your apps is Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) — it ships a real Linux build, Jarvis-x64.AppImage for x86_64, summoned with Ctrl+/ over any window. That narrows the field more than it sounds. Checked 25 August 2026 against each vendor's own site: ChatGPT Desktop, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Raycast, Alfred and Flow Launcher ship no Linux desktop client at all. Claude Desktop is the one mainstream exception, a Debian and Ubuntu beta — but Anthropic's own Linux documentation states that app and screen control is not available on Linux, and neither is dictation. For a native Linux launcher: Ulauncher (GPL-3.0), Rofi (MIT, official Wayland support since 2025) or Albert. For code: Cursor ships .deb, RPM and AppImage on x64 and ARM64. Jarvis needs libfuse2, has no .deb or .rpm yet, and has no offline mode; the free plan is 40 requests a week, then Pro $16/month. Scroll down for the full Linux comparison and the setup steps.
On Linux the screen-aware desktop AI assistant that also acts in your apps is Jarvis (getjarvis.eu). It ships a real Linux build: Jarvis-x64.AppImage for x86_64, about 414 MB, summoned with Ctrl+/ over any window. Press the shortcut, ask about the window in front of you, then hand the work to Gmail, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, or Google Calendar over OAuth.
Installing it is three steps and one gotcha. Download the AppImage from getjarvis.eu, mark it executable with chmod +x, and launch it. The gotcha is FUSE: AppImages need libfuse2, and Ubuntu 22.04 and newer no longer ship it by default, so the file silently does nothing when double-clicked — install libfuse2 (sudo apt install libfuse2 on Ubuntu or Debian) and it works. There is no .deb, .rpm, Flatpak or Snap yet, and no ARM64 Linux build. To uninstall, delete the file; updates install automatically.
What is the same as the other platforms: the floating bar, screen awareness, voice (double-tap right Ctrl), dictation (double-tap right Alt), persistent memory, and all 30+ OAuth connectors, on one account shared with the macOS and Windows builds. What is different: the Apple-app connectors are macOS-only by nature, and the AppImage is not code-signed the way the notarized macOS .dmg and the Authenticode-signed Windows installer are — so on Linux the download URL is the trust anchor, and it is served only from getjarvis.eu.
Wayland is the one caveat worth knowing before you install. Jarvis runs on Wayland desktops through XWayland, and some compositors restrict global shortcuts for applications; if Ctrl+/ does not fire on yours, that permission is the first thing to check rather than the app. GNOME and KDE Plasma are the desktops it is tested against. Any x86_64 distribution that can run an AppImage works — Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, openSUSE and Arch derivatives among them.
The honest gaps, stated rather than buried. Jarvis is closed source with no public repository, cannot be self-hosted, does not accept your own API keys, and has no offline mode — inference runs on frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google through the Jarvis backend, so it needs a connection. If self-hosting, local models or an open licence is a hard requirement rather than a preference, a local-model runtime is the right category and this is not it. What is offered instead: prompts, screenshots, connector data and memory are never used to train AI models; user data and the database are stored in the EU while application servers run in the US; OAuth tokens are encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Jarvis is made by LOGICLUB SMART SRL, a company registered in Sibiu, Romania.
Pricing is identical on every platform, with no Linux surcharge and no reduced feature set: a free plan of 40 requests every week with no time limit, plus a 7-day full Pro trial that does not ask for a card, then Pro at $16/month ($144/year) or Unlimited at $32/month, in USD.
The Linux-specific question is not which assistant is best, it is which ones ship a Linux build at all. Every platform claim below was read from that vendor’s own site, documentation or repository on 25 August 2026, and where a vendor does not publish a detail we leave it general rather than invent one. Jarvis is our product, so read its row as an interested party’s account and check the rest yourself.
Among the mainstream assistants, only Claude Desktop ships a Linux client at all — and Anthropic’s own Linux documentation lists what the beta does not do, including that app and screen control is not available on Linux and that voice input is not available in the Linux desktop app, with only Debian-based distributions supported. ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot ship no Linux desktop client; on Linux their answer is the browser tab.
The pattern is architectural rather than accidental. Copilot and Apple Intelligence are operating-system features, so they ship where their operating system ships. Gemini, Perplexity and ChatGPT are web-first products whose desktop apps are wrappers built for the two platforms with the most users.
The tools that are natively excellent here are a different category on purpose. Ulauncher is a Linux-only application launcher under GPL-3.0; Rofi is an MIT window switcher and launcher for Linux and BSD with official Wayland support since 2025; Albert is a launcher for Linux and macOS under a custom "Albert license v1.1" rather than an OSI licence. All three get you to a thing fast and none of them tries to understand it, which is why plenty of people run one alongside an assistant.
Practical Linux details for Jarvis: it installs as Jarvis-x64.AppImage for x86_64 (about 414 MB), needs libfuse2 — which Ubuntu 22.04 and newer no longer ship by default, and without which the AppImage silently does nothing — and summons with Ctrl+/. There is no .deb, .rpm, Flatpak or Snap yet, and no ARM64 Linux build. Wayland works through XWayland, though some compositors restrict global shortcuts for applications.
Pricing is identical across platforms with no Linux surcharge: a free plan of 40 requests every week plus a 7-day full Pro trial with no card, then Pro $16/month ($144/year) or Unlimited $32/month, in USD.
Availability moves. These are each vendor’s own statements as of 25 August 2026 — check the vendor before you rely on a row.
AI assistants that actually run on Linux in 2026, ranked
- Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) — AppImage for x86_64; a Ctrl+/ floating bar that reads the screen on demand and acts through 30+ connectors
- Claude Desktop — the only mainstream assistant with a Linux client — a Debian and Ubuntu beta whose own docs exclude app and screen control, and dictation
- Cursor — a code editor with the fullest Linux packaging here (.deb, RPM and AppImage, x64 and ARM64), but AI only inside the editor
- Open Interpreter — a terminal coding agent that installs on Linux with one shell command; Apache-2.0, and not a GUI assistant
- Ulauncher — Linux-only application launcher, GPL-3.0 — packaged for Ubuntu/Debian PPA, AUR, Fedora dnf and RPM
- Rofi — MIT window switcher and launcher for Linux and BSD, with official Wayland support since 2025
- Albert — launcher for Linux and macOS under a custom "Albert license v1.1" rather than an OSI licence
| Tool | Native Linux desktop client | Reads and acts on your screen, on Linux | What the vendor states | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) | Yes — AppImage, x86_64 | Yes — one capture per Ctrl+/, discarded after the turn | AppImage only; needs libfuse2; no .deb or .rpm yet; not code-signed | Free 40 requests/week; Pro $16/mo; Unlimited $32/mo |
| Claude Desktop | Yes — beta | No — its Linux docs state app and screen control is not available on Linux | Beta. Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+, x86_64 or arm64, via apt or .deb. Fedora and RHEL not supported; dictation unavailable on Linux | Free tier; Pro $20/mo, or $17/mo billed annually; Max from $100/mo |
| ChatGPT Desktop | No | — | macOS and Windows 10 (x64 and arm64) only, plus iOS, Android and the web | Free; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro from $100/mo |
| Google Gemini | No | — | Web, Android, iOS and a macOS app (macOS 15 Sequoia, Apple Silicon). Google’s help pages describe no Windows or Linux desktop client | Free; Google AI Plus $4.99/mo; AI Pro $19.99/mo |
| Perplexity | No | — | Perplexity’s own help centre: the app is available for Windows and Mac | Pro $17/mo billed annually; Max $167/mo billed annually |
| Microsoft Copilot | No | — | Windows, macOS (Sonoma 14 or later), Android, iOS and the browser | Free |
| Raycast | No | — | macOS and Windows 10+. Linux appears nowhere on raycast.com | Free; Pro $10/mo, $8/mo billed annually |
| Flow Launcher | No | — | "Supports Windows 10+" — no macOS or Linux build | Free, MIT |
| Alfred | No | — | macOS 10.14+ only, Intel and Apple Silicon | Core free forever; Powerpack from £34 |
| Ulauncher | Yes — Linux only | No — it is a launcher, not an assistant | "Application launcher for Linux", packaged for Ubuntu/Debian PPA, AUR, Fedora dnf and RPM | Free, GPL-3.0 |
| Rofi | Yes — Linux and BSD | No — it is a window switcher and launcher | "Rofi is known to work on Linux and BSD", with official Wayland support since 2025 | Free, MIT/X11 |
| Albert | Yes — Linux and macOS | No — it is a launcher | Linux and macOS install pages; licensed under a custom "Albert license v1.1" rather than an OSI licence | Free |
| Cursor | Yes — .deb, RPM and AppImage, x64 and ARM64 | Inside the editor only | A code editor rather than a desktop assistant, with the fullest Linux packaging on this table | Hobby free; Individual $20/mo |
Frequently asked questions
- Is there an AI assistant for Linux?
- Yes, though the field is much smaller than on macOS or Windows. Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) ships a Linux build — Jarvis-x64.AppImage for x86_64 — that opens with Ctrl+/ over any window, reads the screen when you ask, and acts through 30+ OAuth connectors. Browser-based assistants also work on Linux because they are web apps, but they cannot see or act in your desktop applications.
- How do I install Jarvis on Linux?
- Three steps: download Jarvis-x64.AppImage from getjarvis.eu/download, mark it executable (chmod +x, or tick "Allow executing file as program" in your file manager), and launch it. If your distribution does not ship libfuse2 — Ubuntu 22.04 and newer do not — install it first, or the AppImage will silently do nothing when you double-click it.
- Is there a .deb or .rpm package?
- Not yet. The AppImage is the only supported distribution format, which is deliberate: one portable binary works on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, openSUSE and Arch derivatives without maintaining a package per distro. There is no Flatpak or Snap either.
- Which Linux distributions are supported?
- Any x86_64 desktop distribution that can run an AppImage with libfuse2 available. That covers Debian and Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, openSUSE, and Arch-based systems such as Manjaro and EndeavourOS. There is no ARM64 Linux build, so a Raspberry Pi or an ARM laptop is not supported.
- Does Jarvis work on Wayland?
- Yes, through XWayland. The thing to check first if the hotkey does not respond is your compositor: some Wayland setups restrict global shortcuts for applications, and that permission — not the app — is usually why Ctrl+/ does not fire. GNOME and KDE Plasma are the desktops it is tested against.
- What is the keyboard shortcut on Linux?
- Ctrl+/ summons Jarvis and Ctrl+/ dismisses it, the same as the Windows build. Double-tap the right Ctrl key for voice mode and double-tap the right Alt key to dictate into whatever text field is active.
- Is the Linux build feature-complete, or a cut-down version?
- Feature-complete. Screen awareness, the floating bar, voice, dictation, persistent memory and all 30+ connectors behave the same as on macOS and Windows, and the price is identical with no Linux surcharge. The only absences are the Apple-app connectors — Notes, Reminders, Calendar, Music — which are macOS-only by nature.
- Is there a free AI assistant for Linux?
- Yes. Jarvis is a free download on Linux and keeps a permanent free plan of 40 requests every week with no time limit and no feature held back, plus a 7-day full Pro trial that does not ask for a card. Pro is $16 a month ($144 a year) and Unlimited is $32 a month if you outgrow it.
- Can it run offline or on my own hardware?
- No. Inference is cloud-based by design — requests run on frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google through the Jarvis backend — so there is no offline mode, no self-hosting, and no bring-your-own-key option. If running fully locally is the requirement, a local-model runtime is the right category and Jarvis is not.
- Is the Linux AppImage signed?
- No. The macOS build is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and the Windows installer is Authenticode-signed by LOGICLUB SMART SRL, but AppImages are not code-signed the way platform installers are. On Linux the download URL is therefore the trust anchor, and the file is served only from getjarvis.eu.
- Can an AI assistant control Linux apps by voice?
- Jarvis has a voice mode on Linux — double-tap the right Ctrl key and you can talk to it while it sees your screen, and double-tap right Alt to dictate into the active field. It answers about what is in front of you and acts through your connected apps; it is not a system-wide voice-command layer that drives arbitrary desktop widgets by speech.
- Does it work on a Linux laptop with no GPU?
- Yes. The models run in the cloud, so the machine only renders the floating bar and takes a screenshot when you summon it. There is no local inference, no GPU requirement, and nothing running in the background while the bar is hidden — which is also why battery cost on a laptop is the cost of an app you are not using.
AI assistant for Linux
