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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- If you need AI to build an app, Dyad is the way to go.
- With Dyad, you can build locally, even with locally installed AI.
- Dyad is free and installable on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.
Over the past week, I’ve been on a quest to find an AI to build web and mobile apps. I didn’t have a specific app in mind to build; I just wanted to see how feasible it was to do it without writing a single line of code or spending a single penny.
It was that last bit that kept tripping me up. I’d try one app, only to find that whatever AI it used required me to sign up for a paid plan. It took me a while to find a desktop app that would let me use any number of AI services (including free ones) to build an app.
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The app I found is called Dyad. According to the Dyad GitHub page, the app “is a local, open-source AI app builder. It’s fast, private, and fully under your control — like Lovable, v0, or Bolt, but running right on your machine.”
That local part is important to me because I don’t want to use a cloud-based service due to privacy concerns. The fact that I can install Dyad on my desktop machine and then use either local or free AI services means I can control how much privacy I retain.
To that end, I wanted to build an app for my sister, who is launching a new service to help more senior women reclaim their beauty. She gave me the parameters for the app, and I set about using Dyad to see how well it would function.
Dyad did a remarkably good job. It took two days to build the app, but that’s only because I chose OpenRouter as the AI service and exceeded the free service’s limits fairly quickly. Fortunately, Dyad remained in a sort of suspended animation state, so the next day I was able to click Retry and, after an hour or so, the build completed.
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Once the build was completed, I could test the new app within Dyad to see how well it worked. To my surprise, the app worked exactly as I’d expected. I could then publish the web app on GitHub, clone it, and run it.
Simple. Really simple.
You can use Dyad for free, or you can purchase a Dyad Pro license and add more AI models, an advanced agent mode, and auto-debugging. The Pro license is $20/month.
How I used Dyad
I installed Dyad on Pop!_OS Linux, but it’s also available for MacOS and Windows. To install on MacOS or Windows, download the associated installer file from the official Dyad Download page, double-click the downloaded file, and follow the simple installation wizard.
For Linux, you have to download either the RPM, DEB, or AppImage file, and then either open the RPM or DEB with your GUI app store, run the required package manager command, or use a tool like GearLever to install the AppImage.
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Once installed, open Dyad and you’re ready to connect it to an AI model. To do that, click the gear icon in the left sidebar, then click Model Providers. You can then select one of the model providers or click Add custom provider. If you’re going to use local AI, you’ll click Add custom provider.
Jack Wallen/ZDNETThe trick to using local AI is that you have to download and select a model that is not only suitable for your system but also capable of coding. Your best bet is to read through this CodeGPT page about choosing the right model.
Also: I tried Sanctum’s local AI app, and it’s exactly what I needed to keep my data private
Because I had to use my desktop for other things (as Dyad churned away), I decided to use OpenRouter, a free AI model. For OpenRouter, you have to sign up for a free account, then create a new API key, which you’ll copy and paste into the OpenRouter configuration in Dyad.
Jack Wallen/ZDNETOnce you’ve done that, you’re ready to build.
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Click the Home icon in the sidebar and then click New App. You’ll find yourself in a fairly familiar AI chat window. Before you start your chat, make sure to select the model you’ve added in the drop-down menu under the chat area (you can see that I’ve already selected Free (OpenRouter).
It’s then time to describe the app you want to build. As usual, be as specific as you can with your prompt. Here’s the prompt I typed for my sister’s app.
I want an app that helps older women to find ways to reclaim their femininity. This app will include types of clothing for specific body types, how to wear subtle makeup, how to style hair, walk, stand, talk, and other tips. Make this app installable on the Linux desktop via AppImage, and make it possible to save information about a user’s clothing sizes, style preferences, color palette, and traditional user profile preferences.
Once you’ve typed the app description, hit Enter on your keyboard or click the right-pointing arrow to begin the build. Dyad will start by processing what you’ve asked in the query and begin piecing it all together.
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Depending on the app you’ve decided to build, you might have to answer questions (such as how to connect the app to a database). If you exceed the rate limit for the free AI service, you’ll need to either wait a day or purchase credits.
As I mentioned earlier, I waited a day, and all was fine. After the second day, I had an app to preview and link to my GitHub account. Although it wasn’t quite ready to share with my sister, I had a solid base to continue building on.
Jack Wallen/ZDNETYou’d be hard-pressed to find an AI coding app that is locally installed, free to use, and as simple as Dyad. I would highly recommend giving this app a try and seeing if it can build the app you are looking for.
