Bonfire Terminal vs Coldtea
Coldtea is a hybrid-hosted coding assistant sold on a subscription and able to work with any LLM provider. Bonfire Terminal is a different bargain: it runs on-device, you supply your own model key at cost with no markup, and a single perpetual license replaces the recurring subscription clock entirely.
Bonfire Terminal vs Coldtea: the 16-factor comparison
| Rating factor | Coldtea | Bonfire Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI Coding Assistant | AI Terminal / Local Agent |
| Popularity | Not disclosed | Growing · indie |
| Hosting architecture | Hybrid | On-Device Local |
| Licensing model | Not disclosed | One-Time Perpetual |
| Data / training policy | Not disclosed | Fully local — nothing leaves device |
| Offline capability | Not disclosed | Yes |
| Pricing tier range | Not disclosed | One-time license |
| Execution unit cost | Subscription | Unlimited Local Compute |
| API-key markup | Not disclosed | No — BYO key at cost |
| Supported LLM providers | Any | OpenAI; Anthropic; Google; Local; Any |
| Auth / permission types | Not disclosed | API Key; Local/None |
| Phone / messaging bridges | None | Telegram; WhatsApp |
| Speech recognition engine | None | Whisper (local) |
| Local media processing | No | Yes |
| Sovereign score | 41 / 100 | 93 / 100 |
The sovereignty gap
Where Coldtea lands on each weighted pillar (its bar) — the red marker is Bonfire's score. Auto-derived from the 16 factors above.
Which should you choose?
Choose Coldtea if…
Choose Coldtea if you want a subscription coding assistant with flexible provider support and are comfortable with hybrid cloud hosting.
Choose Bonfire Terminal if…
Choose Bonfire Terminal if you want on-device coding help, no subscription, and LLM keys billed straight through at cost.
Bonfire Terminal vs Coldtea: FAQ
Is Coldtea private?
Coldtea runs on a hybrid architecture and does not publish a data-training policy, so some of your code may pass through its servers. Bonfire Terminal keeps everything local by design, meaning your source and prompts never leave the machine you are working on.
Is Bonfire Terminal cheaper than Coldtea?
Coldtea bills as an ongoing subscription. Bonfire Terminal is a one-time perpetual license, after which you only pay your own LLM provider at cost with no markup. Over months of use, replacing a recurring fee with a single purchase usually costs less.
Can Bonfire Terminal replace Coldtea?
If you want an assistant for coding tasks, Bonfire Terminal can fill that role on-device and connect through Telegram and WhatsApp. Coldtea specializes as a coding assistant, so whether it is a full replacement depends on how deeply you rely on its particular workflow.
What can Bonfire Terminal do that Coldtea can't?
Bonfire Terminal runs locally, transcribes with on-device Whisper, processes media on your machine, and bridges to Telegram and WhatsApp. Coldtea is hybrid-hosted with no messaging bridges, so it cannot keep work entirely on-device or reach you through phone messaging.
How do I switch from Coldtea to Bonfire Terminal?
Cancel your Coldtea subscription, install Bonfire Terminal, and connect the same LLM provider using your own key. Since Bonfire is local-first, your projects stay on disk and there is no cloud workspace to export before you begin.
Does Bonfire Terminal work offline vs Coldtea?
Coldtea does not document offline support and runs on hybrid infrastructure. Bonfire Terminal is built to run on-device with local models and local Whisper, so it keeps functioning where a cloud-dependent coding assistant would stall without a connection.