What you get for nothing.
The Lucid Train CLI is free and open source with no time limit, and running it against a local Ollama model costs nothing at all since there are no API charges. The desktop app, which is where the visual diagram canvas lives, has a 7-day trial with no card required and is then $3 a month.
Free forever: the CLI
A single 6 MB Rust binary with a keyboard-first terminal interface. Same agent core as the desktop app, same model support, same configuration file. No account needed, no time limit, and the source is open.
Free to run: local models
Point it at a local Ollama model and the marginal cost of every turn is zero. No API key, no telemetry, and nothing leaves the machine. This is the part people miss when comparing prices: most tools in this category bundle model usage into a subscription, so you are paying for tokens whether or not you wanted to.
Free for a week: the desktop app
The trial is granted on first sign-in, lasts seven days and needs no card. It is an entitlement on your account rather than a payment subscription, so there is nothing to cancel and nothing is charged when it lapses. After that the app is $3 a month or $30 a year, covering up to three devices.
What each one includes
| CLI | Desktop app | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source | 7-day trial, then $3/month |
| Coding agent | Yes | Yes |
| Reviewable diffs | Yes | Yes |
| Any OpenAI-compatible model | Yes | Yes |
| Fully offline with local models | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server and client | Yes | Yes |
| Diagram canvas | No | Yes |
| Version history | No | Yes, 50 per diagram |
| Dependency audit | No | Yes |
| Grafana, Prometheus, Loki | No | Yes |
| Runs over SSH | Yes | No |