AI roleplay as a hobby is a lot more accessible today. There are many easy-to-use online frontends with active communities. We can access powerful LLMs through an API provider or proxy service without breaking the bank, and services like OpenRouter also offer limited free LLM usage.
For users who value privacy and greater control over their experience, getting started with local AI roleplay is a straightforward process. Frontends like SillyTavern and backends like KoboldCpp have made local AI roleplay more accessible.
Local AI Roleplay And Accessibility
During RPWithAI’s conversation with Henky and Concedo, the developers of KoboldCpp, we discussed how the underlying technology and accessibility to the hobby have improved, enabling local AI roleplay to develop into its current form.
Today, you download a Large Language Model, run KoboldCpp and SillyTavern with default settings, and you’re all set. If you want to avoid the hassle of running two separate programs, KoboldCpp also offers KoboldAI Lite, a lightweight user interface for AI roleplay.
Obviously, customizing and optimizing settings on these programs will enhance your experience, and we have guides to assist with that. However, they have made it easy for everyone to get started with local AI roleplay, removing the barrier that previously only allowed power users with technical knowledge to enjoy this hobby.
Local AI roleplay is more accessible today thanks to the efforts of developers like Henky and Concedo, as well as countless other developers and contributors who have been a part of this hobby since its early days. Their passion and love for the hobby have paved the way for local AI roleplay to become what it is today.
KoboldCpp: Making Local AI More Accessible
KoboldCpp’s focus on making local AI more accessible is one of the reasons the project gained a lot of momentum. Today, many alternatives are more popular due to backing from investors and corporations. But KoboldCpp remains committed to its principles, a free, open-source, and independent backend that prioritizes users’ experience above all.
A lot of the momentum we got was [by] being at the right place at the right time with enough accessibility. Of course, ever since then, there have been dozens of other options [that have] popped up, many of them becoming more popular due to receiving funding and/or resources. But Kobo has largely stayed true to its roots and goals.
Concedo, KoboldCpp’s Developer, in a conversation with RPWithAI.
Henky explained that when he started contributing to KoboldAI during its early days, long before KoboldCpp even existed, the process of running KoboldAI on Google Colab was “insane.” It involved installing Python and several dependencies, launching the program in the correct order, and then configuring your local KoboldAI UI to connect to the KoboldAI server running on Google Colab.
Making it accessible was definitely my biggest thing since I knew the project would die out if I didn’t make it actually easy to set up.
Henky, KoboldCpp’s Developer, in a conversation with RPWithAI.
Today, all you need to do is replace the model GGUF link and click play to run KoboldCpp on Google Colab. Or, even better, download the KoboldCpp executable, load your model, and get started. The hassle of manually installing several dependencies, compiling, and so on is no longer a problem.
Over the years, KoboldAI has also been the first to find solutions that made local AI more accessible, and they shared their knowledge with others. You have dedicated development teams with financial backing and other resources at their disposal that are now doing the same work for the benefit of commercialized competitors.
Hardware Support And Keeping Up With The Competition
Henky and Concendo also prioritize supporting a wide range of hardware options, including older GPUs, devices without dedicated GPUs, phones, and more. KoboldCpp remains a reliable choice for users not on the latest hardware.
We have users using KoboldCpp specifically because we are the only ones who actually care about their older hardware.
Henky, August 24, 2025.
KoboldCpp’s developers are also open to constructive feedback and encourage contributions to help make the software even easier to use, continuing to make local AI more accessible. However, the absence of a fully funded developer team presents its own set of challenges.
We can’t have literal dev teams like the commercial projects since this is just a spare-time project from a few people, but we’ve been keeping up pretty decently. [It’s] also why they can roadmap and we can’t. They can just force people to build specific features, and for us, it’s whatever people feel is valuable to program at the time.
Henky, KoboldCpp’s Developer, in a conversation with RPWithAI.
KoboldCpp’s Focus On AI Roleplay
KoboldCpp is a backend that focuses on AI roleplay, which is why it pairs great with a frontend like SillyTavern.
RPWithAI has always recommended KoboldCpp as a backend for SillyTavern. KoboldCpp supports older hardware, is easy to set up and integrate, and supports the Banned Tokens/Strings feature. This feature helps reduce repetitiveness and “slop” that is often generated by smaller models.
KoboldCpp, compared to other backends, is optimized for fictional use. So we properly keep the right things in memory when asked and have additional samplers and phrase banning you’d want, as well as things like world info in our own UI.
Henky, KoboldCpp’s Developer, in a conversation with RPWithAI.
While it may not look as sleek as its competitors, KoboldCpp does more under the hood than other backends to enhance your AI roleplay experience.
The Result Of Their Passion
KoboldCpp is a project that helps make local AI more accessible, focusing on providing a great AI roleplay experience. Developers and contributors who have faced struggles that no longer exist now help maintain and improve the project. They took the road less traveled and have paved a path for us to enjoy this hobby without ripping our hair out in the process.
Those new to the hobby often take many things for granted. We frequently see complaints about the restrictions of free-tier LLM use, people switching from one large model to another because “it doesn’t cook,” and a list of other issues that barely compare to the struggles people faced earlier.
It’s fascinating to learn about the experiences of those who have been involved in this hobby for a while and see how far it has progressed. It makes us appreciate the current state of AI roleplay even more. And in a couple of years, things will be even easier than they are now, especially if hardware barriers are also lowered.
