Plenty of good apps now ship an AI feature: a search that understands what you mean, a recommender that knows your taste, an assistant that does the fiddly bit for you. Almost all of them ask the same thing first: an account with an AI provider, a card on file, and an API key pasted into the settings. On ElfHosted, a growing list of apps now arrive with the AI already in the box.

What does "AI, batteries included" mean? 🔋

It means the AI features in these apps work on an ElfHosted model, on an allowance that comes with your plan. There is no provider account to open, no key to find, and no model to choose. Everyday use is covered: asking MediaStorm for something to watch tonight, letting Digarr dig up an album you will love, having Mealie untangle "a scant cup of flour, sifted" into something it can scale.

You will see a green AI, batteries included box on each app's store page, so it is easy to tell at a glance which apps have it.

Which apps include AI? 🧙

Ready from the first minute, with nothing to set up:

• OvertChat: a friendly AI chat for the whole household, with a login for everyone and apps for iOS and Android. Open it and start typing.
• Hermes and OpenClaw: your agent arrives with a model already configured, so it works from the first chat.
• AIOMetadata: AI search in Stremio and Nuvio. Describe the film rather than remembering its title.
• MediaStorm: Ask AI and Surprise Me, for the nights nobody can decide.
• SuggestArr: AI search and AI recommendations that fill your requests for you.
• Digarr: music discovery from what you actually listen to, with "ElfHosted (included)" already picked as its provider.
• BookSeerr: generated reading suggestions on top of its own recommendation engine.

One setting away, because these apps keep their AI settings in their own screens. It takes a minute, and each app's docs have the three or four fields to fill in:

• ReadMeABook: BookDate, a swipe-to-discover recommender for your next audiobook (setup).
• Mealie: ingredient parsing, recipe import from pasted text, translation and tagging (setup).
• M3U Editor: the AI Copilot, a chat assistant that tidies your channels and schedules recordings.
• Wallos: AI recommendations for trimming the subscriptions you pay for (setup).

It comes along inside the bundles too: the AIOMagic Bundle and the Stremio Addons Bundle (through AIOMetadata), and the Mixtape Bundle (through Digarr).

What if I need more power? 🪄

Bring your own. The included model is chosen to be quick and capable for everyday use. If you want a bigger model, image or audio features, or heavy use, add your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or other compatible provider in the app's settings, exactly as you would anywhere else. That usage is billed by your provider directly.

Two promises come with that. Your own provider always wins: if you have configured one, the app uses it. And we never overwrite what you set: nothing we add touches a provider, key or model you chose yourself.

How does it work behind the scenes? ⚙️

Each app talks to an AI gateway that runs inside ElfHosted, right next to your apps. The gateway knows which app and which subscription is asking, passes the request to the model, and counts it against that subscription's allowance. Your apps never hold a provider key of ours, and a key you add yourself goes to your provider, not through us.

The allowance is shared out by the day as well as the month. That way an agent stuck in a loop at 3am cannot spend your whole month before breakfast; at worst, it takes the rest of that day off.

What happens if I use it all? ⏳

The AI features in that app pause until the allowance refreshes, and everything else carries on as normal. If you find yourself bumping into the limit, that is the sign to bring your own provider for the heavy lifting.

Do I already have it? 🤔

If you subscribe to any of the apps above, yes. For the first group there is nothing to do: the AI is already switched on. For ReadMeABook, Mealie, M3U Editor and Wallos, follow the short setup in each app's docs, and it is live from the next click.

How to get it 🛒

Every plan starts with a $1 week, so the easiest way to judge the included AI is to try it: ask MediaStorm for "something like Arrival but cosier", or let Digarr loose on your listening history, and see what comes back.

→ Try MediaStorm · Try Digarr · Try the AIOMagic Bundle

Where to next 🧭

• Each app's store page has the AI, batteries included box explaining what the AI does in that app
• The ElfHosted docs have the setup steps for the apps that need one setting
• Come and say hello in Discord, especially if the AI recommends something truly baffling. Even Gandalf misjudged a hobbit or two.