The best private AI chatbots in 2026
Duck.ai, Lumo, Venice, Confer, Brave Leo and Prino, compared on sign-up, stored history, training, data retention, memory and encrypted Projects.
Table of contents
Short answer
Prino is the only one of the six that answers yes to all six checks: no account needed, history only you can read, no training on your chats, zero data retention on every prompt, private memory and encrypted Projects. Every other product misses at least one.
How do you compare private AI chatbots?
Ask the same six questions of every product, because "private" means different things on different sites:
- Do you need an account? An account links every chat to you.
- Who can read your saved history? If the company holds the key, it can read your chats, and so can anyone who compels it.
- Are your chats used for training? Training copies your words into a model.
- Is your prompt deleted after the answer? A model has to read it to reply. Zero data retention means nothing is kept once the answer is written.
- Does it remember you privately? Memory makes an assistant useful, but only if nobody else can read it.
- Can you keep work in encrypted Projects? Projects group chats and files for one task, and should be as private as the chats themselves.
The comparison
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not stated
| No account | Encrypted history | No training | Zero data retention | Memory | Encrypted Projects | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prino | Yes. | Yes. | Yes. | Yes. Zero retention. | Yes. | Yes. |
| Confer | Partly. Limited guest. | Yes. | Yes. Self-stated. | Yes. Enclave. | Yes. | Yes. Encrypted folders. |
| Lumo (Proton) | Yes. Guest mode. | Yes. | Yes. | Yes. Own servers. | Partly. Needs account. | Partly. Needs account. |
| Duck.ai | Yes. | Yes. On device. | Yes. | Partly. Up to 30 days. | Not stated. | No. Pinning only. |
| Brave Leo | Yes. | Yes. On device. | Yes. | Yes. | Partly. Preferences. | No. No folders. |
| Venice | Yes. Anonymous use. | Yes. On device. | Yes. By policy. | Partly. Some models store. | Yes. In browser. | Partly. Folders only. |
Which should you pick?
Pick by the risk that matters to you:
- You want all six, in one place: Prino.
- You want to ask one thing without an account: Prino, Lumo guest mode, Duck.ai, Brave Leo or Venice.
- You want history and memory that nobody else can read: Prino, Confer or Lumo.
- You want nothing stored at all: Prino's Ghost mode, or Lumo guest chats, which are erased at the end of the session [3].
- You need prompts hidden even from the company running the model: look for a verified secure enclave, also called confidential computing. Confer offers one, and so does Venice on Pro.
What no private AI chatbot can promise
The model that answers you reads your message while it writes the reply. Encryption protects what is saved; zero data retention and secure enclaves limit what happens to the message after. Before you type something sensitive, leave out the details the answer doesn't need.
Common questions
- What is the most private AI chatbot?
- Prino is the only one we compared that ticks all six: no account, encrypted history, no training, zero data retention, private memory and encrypted Projects. If you need prompts hidden even from the service running the model, look for a verified secure enclave, also called confidential computing, as Confer offers.
- Is Duck.ai private?
- Duck.ai strips identifying details before prompts reach model providers and keeps recent chats on your device. Model providers may keep prompts for up to 30 days, and Duck.ai describes no memory across chats.
- Is Proton Lumo private?
- Lumo runs models on servers Proton controls, keeps your history with zero-access encryption and doesn't train on chats. The model on Proton's servers still reads your prompt to answer it.
- Which private AI chatbots work without an account?
- Prino, Duck.ai, Lumo guest mode, Brave Leo and Venice all let you chat without signing up. Confer offers a limited guest plan.
Chat privately. No sign-up needed.
Start a private chatSources
- Duck.ai privacy policy and terms of service
- What Duck.ai shares with AI model providers
- How Lumo protects your privacy
- About Lumo, Proton's AI assistant
- Privacy in Venice: where your chats are stored
- Venice plans and pricing
- How Confer runs prompts in secure enclaves
- How Confer encrypts memory
- Brave Leo AI assistant overview
- Brave browser privacy policy, Leo section
- How Prino keeps your chats private
- How Lumo memory works
- Venice FAQ: anonymous use and memory
- Introducing Projects with Lumo 1.3
- How Confer organizes encrypted folders
- Venice feature request: Projects with files
- Improving AI chat organization at DuckDuckGo
- Leo chat organization, community thread