Lobsterai

What is Lobsterai?

LobsterAI (有道龙虾) is an open-source desktop-grade AI Agent developed by NetEase Youdao, positioned as a 7×24 all-scenario personal assistant that gets real work done on your computer. Unlike conversational chatbots, it is an action-oriented AI assistant that automatically executes complex tasks across multiple applications on your desktop, delivering final results directly to you without requiring coding skills.

Key features include single-command autonomy for multi-modal workflows (text, data, documents, videos, games), 16-30+ built-in professional skills covering office docs (PPTX/DOCX/XLSX), web search, Playwright automation, Remotion video generation, email (IMAP/SMTP), and scheduled tasks. It runs in isolated Alpine Linux VM sandbox or local mode for enhanced security, features persistent SQLite memory to learn preferences across sessions, and supports mobile remote control via Telegram, Discord, DingTalk, Feishu (Lark), Enterprise WeChat, QQ, and NetEase IM. The tool offers one-click GUI installation for macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Windows, and Linux, with flexible model support allowing users to switch between Cloud APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini) and local models via Ollama (DeepSeek, Qwen).

LobsterAI is designed for office workers, students, project managers, designers, operations teammates, and developers who need desktop automation assistance but don't want to wrestle with servers, code, and terminal windows. Typical use cases include automating research-to-report/PPT creation, spreadsheet analysis, inbox cleanup, generating videos or simple games from plain English, batch file organization, public opinion monitoring, and creating competitor analysis pitch decks.

Lobsterai pricing

Pricing model: Freemium

LobsterAI is free to download and use as an open-source project under MIT license. However, users need to purchase API tokens ('shrimp feed') from Volcengine (火山引擎) for model access. The cheapest option is the Lite plan at 40 yuan/month. First-time subscription requires real-name authentication via QR code扫码 with微信. Users create an API on Volcengine to obtain their token/secret key, then configure it in LobsterAI to feed the model. The software itself has no cost - pricing is only for the external API tokens needed for model operations.

Lobsterai pros

• Out-of-the-box experience with polished GUI - no command lines or environment setup needed
• Double-click installation without terminal tweaking or command line requirements
• Sandboxed execution via Alpine Linux VM ensures data stays primarily local for privacy
• Remote control integration with DingTalk and Feishu for mobile-to-PC command sending
• Flexible model support - switch between Cloud APIs and local models via Ollama
• 16-30+ built-in professional skills covering Development, Design, Office Tasks, Data Analysis, Creative Generation
• Supports custom skill imports and skill-creator system for limitless expansion
• Persistent long-term memory learns preferences and becomes more attuned to needs over time
• Scheduled tasks & recurring automation via GUI or chat (daily reports, news scraping, email summarization)
• 100% local data storage with zero cloud sync using SQLite
• Cross-platform support for macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Windows, and Linux with one-click installers
• MIT license allows full code audit and complete transparency on GitHub
• Multi-model compatibility with Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama, Deepseek and any compatible API
• Operation traceability, process isolation, directory boundary authorization, and tool-call approvals for security
• Lightning-fast onboarding - often succeeds in single attempt where vanilla OpenClaw gets stuck
• Windows includes bundled Python runtime for immediate use
• Directory boundary authorization prevents AI from accessing unauthorized files

Lobsterai cons

• Currently invite-only beta - official website requires beta approval before download
• Occasional UI glitches when configuring specific LLMs
• Built-in Claude model can be slow for some tasks
• Highly niche tasks still require prompt engineering optimizations
• Some users report the UI can have glitches with specific model configurations
• Requires real-name authentication for first API subscription (all model companies require this)
• Token costs - even the cheapest Lite plan at 40 yuan/month requires purchasing 'shrimp feed' (tokens)
• Electron-based app may have higher memory usage compared to native applications

Categories

• Productivity
• Data & Analytics
• AI Agents

Use cases

• Create Charts
• Research Assistant
• Task Management
• Data Analysis
• Summarize Text