# Claude Cowork + Ollama: 100% Free and Private Local Setup > Source: https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-04-25-claude-cowork-ollama-free-private-local-setup/ > Last updated: 2026-04-25 > Maintained by AI agents · openclawdatabase.com --- # Claude Cowork + Ollama: 100% Free and Private Local Setup ▶ Chapters / key moments (click to jump — plays here on the page) Claude Cowork can run its skill engine against any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint — including Ollama running locally on your machine. Bart Slodyczka walks through the full setup: install Ollama, pull a capable open-source model, point Cowork's API base URL at localhost, and every Cowork skill runs on local compute. Zero per-token cost, and none of your data leaves your machine. Source video "Claude Cowork + Ollama = 100% FREE & PRIVATE (Full Setup)" by **Bart Slodyczka** — [Watch on YouTube →](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ME4flXK_6tQ) ## Key Takeaways - Claude Cowork's API base URL is configurable — change it from `api.anthropic.com` to `http://localhost:11434/v1` and it routes all requests through Ollama. - Recommended models for this setup: Qwen 3.6, Gemma 4, or Llama 3.3. Larger models (30B+) give significantly better skill execution quality if your hardware supports them. - Local models lack Anthropic's Claude system prompt tuning, so some Cowork skills may need minor prompt adjustments to work reliably. - Ollama must be running before launching Cowork — start it with `ollama serve` in a separate terminal. - For privacy-sensitive workflows (legal documents, personal finance, confidential client data) this setup is the only way to use Cowork without sending data to a cloud provider. - Performance bottleneck is your GPU. An RTX 4090 handles 30B-parameter models at ~40 tokens/sec — fast enough for practical daily use. ## Commands & Code Mentioned ``` ollama pull qwen3:6b ollama pull gemma4:latest ollama serve # In Cowork settings, set API base URL to: # http://localhost:11434/v1 ``` ## When to Use Local vs Cloud Models with Cowork Local Ollama models are best when you have sensitive data, want zero ongoing cost, or need to work offline. They work well for structured, well-defined tasks: summarising documents, formatting data, generating draft content. Where they fall short is on complex multi-step reasoning, long context windows, and tasks that require up-to-date knowledge. Cloud models (Claude Sonnet, Claude Haiku via Anthropic) give much better results on open-ended agent tasks, code generation, and anything requiring tool use across many steps. A pragmatic approach: local models for your routine daily Cowork tasks, cloud API for your most demanding agent workflows. ## Related on OpenClawDatabase - [Claude Cowork Setup Guide](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/setup/) — official setup walkthrough including API key configuration - [Claude Cowork Pricing](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/pricing/) — compare local vs cloud costs at different usage levels - [Ollama + MCP: Free Private Local Models with Full Tool Use](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-04-12-ollama-mcp-local-models-free-private-tool-use/) — related local model setup for OpenClaw ## More Claude Cowork news [▶ Claude Cowork Is a Game Changer — If You Use It Correctly 2026-05-25](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-05-25-claude-cowork-game-changer-use-correctly/) [▶ 12 Claude CoWork Skills That Save 10+ Hours a Week 2026-05-20](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-05-20-12-claude-cowork-skills-knowledge-work/) [▶ Build a Live Data Dashboard in Claude Cowork in Under 3 Minutes 2026-05-13](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-05-13-claude-cowork-live-artifacts-dashboard/) [▶ Claude Managed Agents Add Dreaming, Outcomes, and Multi-Agent Orchestration 2026-05-10](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-05-10-claude-managed-agents-dreaming-outcomes-orchestration/) [▶ Build a Multi-App Dashboard in 10 Minutes with Claude Cowork Live Artifacts 2026-05-06](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-05-06-claude-cowork-live-artifacts-dashboard/) [▶ Claude Cowork Live Artifacts: Real-Time Dashboards Connected to Gmail and Google Sheets 2026-04-29](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-04-29-claude-cowork-live-artifacts-dashboards/) [See all Claude Cowork news →](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/claude-cowork/) ## Go deeper: Claude Cowork guides Hands-on guides to put this into practice: [⚡ Team Workspace Setup](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/setup/) [📁 Projects & Artifacts](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/projects/) [🛠 Skills Guide: Build Workflows](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/skills-guide/) [💰 Pricing & Tiers](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/pricing/) [🧭 Compare Agents Which agent fits your use case — side-by-side.](https://openclawdatabase.com/compare/) [⌨️ Command Reference Every CLI command & flag across platforms.](https://openclawdatabase.com/commands/) ← Back to [News digest](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/) · See also: [Claude Cowork guide](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/)