Comparison
OpenAI Assistants is the easiest way to start. Pinchy is the way to stay independent. Here's what that means in practice.
The Core Difference
Everything runs on OpenAI's servers. Your data, your conversations, your files. Simple to start. But you're a tenant in someone else's house.
Everything runs on your servers. Use any model — including OpenAI's. But you own the infrastructure, the data, and the decision to switch providers.
OpenAI Assistants: 10 minutes to "hello world." Pinchy: 30 minutes to production. The extra 20 minutes buy you independence forever.
Side by Side
| OpenAI Assistants | Pinchy | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | OpenAI cloud only | Self-hosted |
| Models | OpenAI models only | Any provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, local) |
| Data Location | US (OpenAI servers) | Your infrastructure, your jurisdiction |
| Slack Integration | Build it yourself | Built-in |
| Teams Integration | Build it yourself | Built-in |
| Web UI | Playground only | Full admin dashboard |
| User Management | API keys | RBAC + SSO |
| File Search | Yes (OpenAI stores files) | Yes (files stay local) |
| Code Execution | Yes (OpenAI sandbox) | Yes (your sandbox) |
| Vendor Lock-In | Complete | None |
| GDPR Compliance | Complicated (US processing) | Built-in (EU hosting) |
| Pricing | Per-token + storage fees | Self-hosted (your model costs only) |
| Fully Offline | Impossible | Yes (Ollama, llama.cpp) |
| Agent Governance | Function calling (no limits) | Plugin permission layer |
| Cross-Channel | API only | Email → Slack → Teams, any combination |
Being Honest
API key, a few lines of code, done. No servers to manage. No Docker to install. If you just want to experiment, OpenAI is faster.
GPT-4o, o1, whatever comes next — you get it first. OpenAI's own platform always has the newest capabilities before anyone else.
No servers to maintain, no updates to install, no infrastructure to monitor. OpenAI handles everything. For small teams, that's real value.
Where Pinchy Wins
Customer data, internal docs, sensitive conversations — they never leave your infrastructure. Your GDPR officer signs off without hesitation.
Switch from OpenAI to Anthropic to a local model. No migration, no data export, no vendor negotiation. You're always in control.
Agents in Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, and the web UI. OpenAI Assistants is an API — you build the channels yourself.
No per-token markup from a platform layer. No file storage fees. No retrieval fees. Pay your model provider directly.
User roles, audit logs, SSO, cost tracking. OpenAI Assistants has API keys. That's not enterprise management.
Multiple agents working together, routing, sub-agents. OpenAI Assistants has been expanding but is primarily designed around single-assistant interactions.
The Real Risk
OpenAI has changed pricing multiple times. When you're locked in, you absorb the increase. With Pinchy, you switch providers.
OpenAI's usage policies evolve. Your use case might be fine today and restricted tomorrow. Self-hosted means your rules.
When OpenAI goes down, every Assistants user goes down. With Pinchy, you can failover to Anthropic or a local model.
Book a call — let's talk about your AI agent needs and how Pinchy can help.
Book a Call →Or email us: hey@clemenshelm.com