# What does Heliox OS cost?

Heliox OS core is **free and MIT-licensed**. Official installers do not require a Heliox subscription.

## Core software

- Desktop application and Python daemon: free under MIT
- Declared action system, specialist agents, local records, and plugin framework: included
- Paid hosted Heliox service: **none announced**

## Optional costs

| Choice | Heliox charge | What you supply |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Local Ollama model | None | Model download, storage, memory, CPU/GPU time, and electricity |
| Cloud model provider | None added by Heliox | Provider API charges under current provider pricing |
| Kokoro or Pocket TTS | None | Optional packages/weights, storage, memory, CPU time, and bandwidth |
| Operating-system voice | None from Heliox | A compatible platform voice/audio device |
| Voice, gesture, or gaze | None from Heliox | Compatible microphone or camera |
| Synthetic/recorded EEG | None from Heliox | Computer resources and optional public dataset download |
| Live EEG research | None from Heliox | Separately purchased compatible hardware and human calibration |

Current third-party pricing: [OpenAI](https://openai.com/api/pricing/), [Anthropic](https://www.anthropic.com/pricing), and [Gemini](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing). Heliox does not control these prices.

## Zero-software-cost path

Use the MIT-licensed application, an existing computer, an installed Ollama model, operating-system speech, and no paid integrations. This avoids subscription and API charges but not ordinary electricity, internet, storage, and hardware costs.

## Hosted-service promise

No paid hosted Heliox plan or price has been announced. If one is introduced, this page must state the price, included usage, data path, and relationship to the free core.

See [evidence and limitations](https://www.helioxos.dev/proof.md) and the [source repository](https://github.com/VyomKulshrestha/Heliox-OS).