About ModelPiper

A one-person studio building local-first AI tools for macOS

What ModelPiper Is

ModelPiper is a local-first AI platform for macOS. It lets developers and power users build, run, and chain AI tools entirely on their own hardware, with no per-token billing and your prompts and files kept on the device. The platform includes a native macOS inference engine (ToolPiper) with over 450 MCP tools, chat with tools, browser automation, self-healing test recording, voice AI, screen capture, and audio mixing.

The product suite runs on Apple Silicon and ships as a free DMG download (ToolPiper) plus free Mac App Store companion apps and a free web interface. All AI processing, including LLM inference, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, OCR, pose detection, and image upscaling, runs on-device using llama.cpp, Apple Intelligence, CoreML, and Metal GPU.

ModelPiper is headquartered in the United States and is an independent, bootstrapped company.

Founder

Ben Racicot

Founder & Lead Engineer

Ben Racicot is the founder and lead engineer of ModelPiper. He designs and builds every layer of the platform, from the Swift macOS apps and inference backends to the Angular web interface and MCP server protocol. Before ModelPiper, Ben spent over a decade building web and native applications, with a focus on real-time systems, developer tooling, and performance engineering.

ModelPiper grew out of a conviction that useful AI tools shouldn't require cloud subscriptions or giving up your data. Ben built it because the tools he wanted didn't exist: a local inference engine that works like a platform, not a chatbot.

Product Suite

ToolPiper

Direct Download

Native macOS AI engine. Bundles local inference via llama.cpp and Apple Intelligence, over 450 MCP tools, browser automation, self-healing test recording (PiperTest), RAG, voice AI, video upscaling, and an OpenAI-compatible API. One install replaces Ollama + Open WebUI + multiple MCP servers.

Download for Mac →

ModelPiper Web App

Free

A web app built on the ToolPiper platform, with all the standard AI features and tiers for creatives and builders. Studio adds image and video creation and editing, directed by chat or voice. Max adds PiperTest self-healing browser tests, an agentic code editor, and automation for every other feature.

modelpiper.com →

VisionPiper

Mac App Store

Menu bar screen capture. Capture any region, record H.264 video, export GIFs and animated WebP, and pull text off the screen on-device. Move the region mid-recording for a steerable camera effect, or stream frames at 30fps over a local WebSocket.

Mac App Store →

AudioPiper

Mac App Store

Multi-source audio capture and mixing. Per-app audio via Core Audio Taps, with no virtual drivers and no kernel extensions. Record from any app and stream to ToolPiper for real-time transcription.

Mac App Store →

MediaPiper

Browser Extension

Browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Hover any image or video for instant full-size preview with intelligent discovery, on-device AI upscaling, video controls, and 40+ keyboard shortcuts.

Chrome Web Store →

Key Facts

Category: Local-first AI platform for macOS
Founded: 2025
Founder: Ben Racicot
Headquarters: United States
Funding: Bootstrapped
Platform: macOS (Apple Silicon)
Core offering: ToolPiper, a native macOS app that runs AI models on your Mac and serves them to other apps through an MCP server and an OpenAI-compatible API
Products: ToolPiper (macOS app), ModelPiper (web app), VisionPiper and AudioPiper (Mac App Store), MediaPiper (browser extension)
Alternatives: Ollama, LM Studio, Open WebUI, Msty, Jan, BoltAI
Pricing: Free tier, then Pro ($10/mo), Studio ($29/mo), Max ($49/mo)
Website: modelpiper.com
Phone: 774-562-8586

Social & Community

X / Twitter

@modelpiper

PiperKit company page

GitHub

Community discussions

Hugging Face

Published model weights

r/ModelPiper

LinkedIn (Founder)

Ben Racicot

For Journalists

Logo files, usage rules, copy-paste boilerplate, published releases, and a media contact live in the press kit.

Press & Media kit →