# October Lantern — an AI friend that lives on your screen > October Lantern is a small app from October for Mac, and for Windows as a preview. A little lantern sits at the edge of your screen: click it and ask anything, or say what you need done, and it answers or puts an AI helper on the job, then tells you when it's finished. It can also draw on your screen to show you how. It brings its own AI, so there's nothing else to set up. (For developers running coding agents like Claude Code and Codex, see https://lantern.october.dev/agents.md.) - Install from Terminal: `curl -fsSL https://lantern.october.dev/install.sh | sh` (downloads the latest notarized release, copies it into /Applications, and opens it) - Download for Mac: https://lantern.october.dev/download/mac - Download for Windows (preview): https://lantern.october.dev/download/windows (about 17 MB, no administrator rights needed) - Release notes: https://github.com/harshsaver/october-lantern-releases/releases - Source code: https://github.com/october-dev/october-lantern (open source, Apache 2.0) - Requirements: macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, as a preview. No Linux download yet. - Price: try it free for 3 days with October Pro (card needed), or buy Lantern Lifetime once (see Pricing). ## How it works 1. **Click the lantern.** It lives at the edge of your screen, over every app. Click it, or press Control + Option + Space (Ctrl + Alt + Space on Windows). 2. **Say what you need.** Type it or say it. A question gets an answer. A job gets an AI helper that does the steps for you, after a 3-second Cancel window. 3. **It gets done. It tells you.** Keep working while it does. When it's finished, the lantern glows and tells you what it did. ## Ask Lantern Click the lantern and type, or point at anything on screen. Lantern answers, or starts the right agent and keeps you posted. Answers come from October's AI, included with the trial, October Pro and Lantern Lifetime. - **"Why is my computer so slow?"** Ask about your own computer. Lantern can look, explain what's going on, and fix it. - **"Find the March invoice."** When the answer isn't something Lantern knows, it starts a helper to look: your computer first, then the web. - **"Is this safe?"** With Point & Ask, point at a worrying pop-up, email, or message and get a calm second opinion. - **"What does this error mean?"** Point at any error and get a plain answer, right where you are. - **"Make this video smaller."** Everyday jobs, done by a helper that uses the tools you already have. - **"Show me how."** Lantern draws on your screen to teach you: it circles the button, points the way and talks you through it one step at a time, in any app. - **"Fill in this form from my CV."** It works in your apps and your browser with its own cursor, while you keep using yours. ## Runs on your computer - **Your files stay on your computer.** Lantern doesn't upload your files or chats. It only looks at your screen when you point at something or ask it to. - **Type it. Or say it.** Press Control + Option + Space (Ctrl + Alt + Space on Windows) to ask from anywhere. Tap the mic and talk; your voice is turned into text on your computer. - **There when you need it.** Lantern sits at the edge of your screen, even across desktops and full-screen apps. Step away, and a notification tells you when a job is done. ## Pricing One October account covers it all. Prices in US dollars, before tax: https://www.october.dev/pricing - **Pro, $20 a month:** 3 days free, then $9.99 for your first month and $20/month after. Cancel anytime. Stronger answers, $3 of answers a month, $20 a month of AI for bigger jobs, jobs that keep going in the cloud when your laptop is closed, answering from your iPhone (beta), and 1 hour of online voice a month. During the trial you get Ask Lantern on your own AI key, 20 questions a day on October's AI and your iPhone (beta); the allowances start with your first payment. Start the trial: https://lantern.october.dev/buy?offer=trial&ref=home&icp=everyone. Or $200 a year, billed yearly, with no trial. - **Max, $60 a month or $600 a year:** everything in Pro, a bigger AI allowance, three times the cloud time, and 3 hours of voice a month. - **Lantern Lifetime, pay once:** Ask Lantern on your own OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter key with no daily limit, up to 20 questions a day on October's AI, your iPhone (beta), Show me how, and every Lantern app update. Not October's cloud. The price goes up as each batch of 100 seats sells; full refund on request within 14 days. Buy: https://lantern.october.dev/buy?offer=lifetime&ref=home&icp=everyone ## FAQ **Do I need to know anything about AI?** No. Click the lantern and say what you need in your own words, like "my Wi-Fi keeps dropping" or "make this video smaller." Lantern answers, or starts an AI helper that does the steps for you and tells you when it's done. **Will it do things without asking me?** Only what you ask for. When you hand it a task, you get 3 seconds to cancel before it starts, and you can stop it any time. Once it's going, it works through the steps without stopping to ask, so it can finish while you do something else. To approve each step instead, turn on Ask before agents act in Settings. Anything that needs your password still shows your computer's own prompt. **Do I need ChatGPT or another AI subscription?** No. Lantern brings its own AI, so there's nothing else to set up. If you already pay for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, Lantern uses that first. **What is October Lantern?** An AI friend that lives on your screen, from October. Click the little lantern at the edge of your screen and ask anything, or say what you need done, and it does it for you. For Mac, and for Windows as a preview. **Who makes Lantern?** October (https://www.october.dev/). October also makes October Desktop, a workspace for teams of agents; Harness (https://harness.october.dev), an open-source coding agent; Agent Intercom (https://agentintercom.org), which lets agents work together; Octo (https://octo.october.dev), a friendly helper for your family’s computers; and Moirai (https://moirai.october.dev), which moves a saved agent session to another tool. **How do I install it?** Download the DMG, open it, and drag Lantern into Applications. Then open Lantern. The download is about 15 MB. On Windows (preview), run October-Lantern-windows-x86_64-setup.exe, then find October Lantern in the Start menu. Windows may show "Windows protected your PC": click More info, then Run anyway (the installer isn't code-signed yet; signing is coming soon). Uninstall from Settings › Apps, or from Lantern's own Settings › About. **Does it work on Windows or Linux?** Yes on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), as a preview: the same lantern and panel as on the Mac. Linux builds from source for now. **Does Lantern upload my files or chats?** No. Your files and chats stay on your computer. When you ask a question, your question (and what you pointed at, if anything) goes to October's AI to be answered; October doesn't keep it. Lantern sends anonymous usage counts (which features are used, never what you ask or type), and you can turn them off in Settings. Your voice is turned into text on your computer. **Which permissions does it ask for?** Only what a feature needs, when you first use it. On a Mac: Screen Recording so it can see what you point at, Accessibility so its helpers can use your apps for you, the Microphone if you talk to it, and Notifications if you want them. No Full Disk Access. **Is Lantern open source?** Yes, Apache 2.0: https://github.com/october-dev/october-lantern. Builds from source send no usage counts. **How do the trial and cancelling work?** Start the trial with a card at https://lantern.october.dev/buy?offer=trial&ref=home&icp=everyone. For 3 days you get Lantern's paid features: Ask Lantern on your own OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter key, up to 20 questions a day on October's AI, and your iPhone (beta). Then October Pro is $9.99 for your first month and $20/month after, and the full Pro allowances start with that first payment. Cancel anytime in the billing portal, from your October account (https://www.october.dev/account). The yearly plan ($200 a year) has no trial. **What does Lifetime include? Can I get a refund?** Lantern Lifetime is paid once: Ask Lantern on your own OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter key with no daily limit, up to 20 questions a day on October's AI, your iPhone (beta), Show me how, and every Lantern app update. It doesn't include October's cloud. It's $149 for the first 100 seats, $199 for the next 100 and $249 for the last 100; the current price and seats left are on the page. Buy at https://lantern.october.dev/buy?offer=lifetime&ref=home&icp=everyone. Changed your mind? Email hey@october.dev within 14 days for a full refund. **Do I need an account?** Yes, an October account. Checkout makes one for the email you pay with, so start the 3-day trial or buy Lifetime, then sign in to Lantern with that email. If you cancel the trial, Lantern keeps working with 5 questions a day. ## For agents - Agent skill: https://lantern.october.dev/.well-known/agent-skills/october-lantern/SKILL.md - Help: hey@october.dev ## Compare Lantern [All comparisons](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons) · [Choosing a desktop AI assistant](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/best-desktop-ai-assistants) - [Lantern vs HeyClicky](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/clicky) - [Lantern vs One](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/one) - [Lantern vs Raycast AI](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/raycast) - [Lantern vs ChatGPT](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/chatgpt) - [Lantern vs Claude](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/claude) - [Lantern vs Muse](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/muse) - [Lantern vs Instinct](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/instinct) - [Lantern vs OpenClaw](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/openclaw) - [Lantern vs Turnstone](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/turnstone) - [Lantern vs Grok Bot](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/grok-bot) - [Lantern vs Hermes Agent](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/hermes-agent) - [Lantern vs Claude Code](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/claude-code) - [Lantern vs Codex CLI](https://lantern.october.dev/comparisons/codex)