conduitchat.app

What It Is

Conduit is a free, open-source AI chat app whose key differentiator is the ability to “create conversation branches from highlighted text.” After selecting a term or paragraph in an AI response, users can start a new branch conversation to explore a side question in depth without interrupting the original main chat. It is especially well suited to learning, technical concept explanations, and multi-threaded exploration.

Core Features

Conduit connects to 50+ models via OpenRouter. The main text mentions GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, Llama, and others, and users need to configure their own OpenRouter API Key in the settings. Its branching mechanism is relatively clear: within a branch, Conduit sends the branch messages plus the parent conversation context before the branching point; within the parent conversation, it only sends the parent messages. This helps prevent side questions from polluting the main conversation context. The product also offers basic chat-app features such as a visual timeline, Markdown rendering, authentication, and database configuration.

Pricing and Open Source

Conduit itself claims to be free forever and is released under the MIT License, so users can view the source code, contribute features, or self-host it. Note that it does not directly provide free model usage credits. Actual AI calls depend on the user’s own OpenRouter Key, so costs depend on OpenRouter and the selected models.

Pros and Cons

Its main strength is an interaction design that fits real learning workflows: conversations are often not linear, and branching lets users freely ask follow-up questions about terms, concepts, and side topics. Being open source and self-hostable also provides greater control. The downside is that branching is currently limited to one level, so its ability to manage complex knowledge trees is limited. New users also need to understand and configure an OpenRouter Key, which makes the barrier to entry higher than plug-and-play chat products. On privacy, although it emphasizes “Your data, your control,” the main text does not provide details on cloud data storage, encryption, or deletion policies.

Who It’s For and Access from China

Conduit is suitable for developers, technical learners, research-oriented users, and anyone who wants to self-host a multi-model chat interface. It is less suitable for general users who simply want to start using a free chat tool immediately without configuring an API Key. Access from China is not specified in the main text; because it relies on OpenRouter and overseas model services, network connectivity, payment methods, and API availability may be uncertain. Alternatives include ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Open WebUI, LibreChat, Chatbox, and TypingMind.