JanitorAI vs SillyTavern: a website or a self-run app?
Updated
JanitorAI is a website with a large library of community-made bots, where you can use the site's own model or connect a proxy. SillyTavern is a front end you install and run, which imports character cards and connects to any model. Both can run on the same API key; the difference is where things live and how much you can change. UnsavedAI keys work in either.
Try it now, free, no account neededStart a story with Detective Rosa QuinnThe case is buried. She brought a shovel. You're in.Side by side
| JanitorAI | SillyTavern | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A bot library and chat website | Software you install and run |
| Setup | An account, then a proxy if you want one | Install, then connect a model |
| Where chats live | On the website, in your account | As files on the machine running it |
| Where bots come from | The site's community library | Card files from anywhere, or your own |
| The model | The site's own, or one connected as a proxy | Any you connect, hosted or local |
| Prompt control | A custom prompt field and generation sliders | Every part of the prompt, its order and presets |
| Extras | Discovering bots in the library | World Info, group chats, extensions |
| On a phone | Any mobile browser | A phone install, or reaching a computer that runs it |
| Cost structure | The site's model, or the provider you connect | Free software, plus the provider you connect |
In short, JanitorAI is a place and SillyTavern is a tool. You visit one; you own the other.
One key, two different address fields
Both speak the same OpenAI-compatible format, so a single UnsavedAI key from /setup works in each, with gemma-4-12b on every plan. The detail that trips people up is the address:
- JanitorAI's proxy field wants the full address ending in /v1/chat/completions, plus the key and the model name.
- SillyTavern wants the base address ending in /v1, under Chat Completion with a custom OpenAI-compatible source, plus the key; then you choose the model.
Paste the SillyTavern-style address into JanitorAI, or the reverse, and you get a connection error instead of a reply. Step-by-step help is in the JanitorAI guide and the SillyTavern guide.
Settings that mean the same thing
Switching between the two is easier once you notice the same few settings in both, under slightly different names:
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Context size | How much of the chat the model reads each turn |
| Max new tokens, or response length | How long a reply may run |
| Temperature | How adventurous the wording is |
| Custom prompt, or main prompt | Standing instructions sent with every turn |
For UnsavedAI's models, JanitorAI generation settings and context size for roleplay give numbers that carry over to SillyTavern too.
Taking a bot across
SillyTavern runs on card files, so a JanitorAI bot crosses over only if you can see its definition: personality, scenario and first message. Rebuild it as a card from those, and only for bots you made or whose creators are happy for them to travel. Going the other way, paste a card's fields into JanitorAI's bot form.
UnsavedAI can sit in the middle: import a card at /chat/custom, tidy it, then export it as Character Card V2 for SillyTavern or as plain text ready for a JanitorAI bot form.
Which to pick
- JanitorAI, if you want to browse a big community library, play from any browser and keep setup to a proxy at most.
- SillyTavern, if you collect cards, want lorebooks and group chats, or like tuning every part of the prompt.
- Both, if you find bots on the site and run favourites in SillyTavern on the same key.
Or skip the decision for tonight: Detective Rosa Quinn has a buried case and has already brought a shovel.
Questions people ask
Can I use the same API key in JanitorAI and SillyTavern?
Yes. An OpenAI-compatible key works in both; only the address format differs. See one AI account across apps.
Which is easier on a phone?
JanitorAI opens in any mobile browser. SillyTavern on a phone means installing it there or reaching a computer that runs it.
Are my chats stored?
Each app keeps its own chats in its own place. Traffic through UnsavedAI API keys is never stored on our side.
