Private Self-Hosted AI · Live · April 26

Build a Private Self-Hosted ChatGPT Alternative You Fully Own

Self-hosting your own ChatGPT alternative gives you complete control — over your data, your model, your costs, and your infrastructure. This live workshop shows you how to build one using OpenClaw and Docker Model Runner in 4 hours.

Sunday, April 26 9am to 1pm EDT

4 Hours Hands-on coding

Live Online Interactive

Workshop Details

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Date and Time

Sunday, April 26, 2026

9:00am to 1:00pm EDT

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Duration

4 Hours · Hands-on

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Format

Live Online · Interactive

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Includes

Certificate of Completion

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Privacy

100% Local · No Cloud Required

By Packt Publishing · Refunds up to 10 days before

About This Self-Hosted AI Workshop

Why Self-Hosting Your Own ChatGPT Alternative Makes Sense in 2026

The tools to self-host a capable AI assistant are now mature, practical, and free. OpenClaw and Docker Model Runner remove the complexity that used to make self-hosting difficult — this workshop shows you the complete setup.

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What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is the open-source personal AI assistant that went viral in early 2026 with 200K+ GitHub stars. It runs on your own devices and connects to WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack and more. No subscription. No data leaving your machine.

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What is Docker Model Runner?

Docker Model Runner is Docker's native feature for running large language models locally on your machine. It gives you an OpenAI-compatible API that OpenClaw uses as its AI brain — complete data privacy, no cloud costs.

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Why Combine OpenClaw and Docker?

OpenClaw gives you the assistant interface and messaging integrations. Docker Model Runner gives you the AI brain running privately on your machine. Together they create a production grade private AI assistant you fully own.

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Why Attend as a Live Workshop?

Setting this up from scattered documentation takes days of debugging. This live workshop gives you a complete guided build in 4 hours with a live instructor answering your questions. Packt has delivered 108 workshops worldwide.

Workshop Curriculum

What You Will Self-Host in This Workshop

Six modules. A fully self-hosted private AI assistant from scratch.

How OpenClaw Works

Understand the Gateway, channels, and skills architecture. Set up and configure OpenClaw locally from scratch.

Docker Model Runner Setup

Run and manage local LLMs using Docker Model Runner. Pull models, configure memory, and understand the OpenAI-compatible API.

Security and Privacy

Configure DM pairing, allowlists, sandbox mode, and proper access controls for your local AI deployment.

Connect to WhatsApp or Telegram

Deploy your AI assistant to real messaging platforms without sending data to any third party cloud service.

Scalable Architecture

Design an extensible assistant architecture. Add skills, configure personality, and set up proactive automation.

Production Deployment

Deploy your OpenClaw and Docker setup to a VPS for always-on availability running 24 hours a day.

What You Walk Away With

By the End of This Workshop You Will Have

A self-hosted private ChatGPT alternative fully under your control.

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A fully functional local AI assistant running on your machine

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Docker Model Runner configured with your chosen LLM model

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OpenClaw connected to WhatsApp or Telegram

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Security and privacy configuration you can trust

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A reusable architecture for future AI assistant projects

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Certificate of completion from Packt Publishing

Your Instructor

Learn Self-Hosted AI From a Docker Captain

Rami Krispin has deep expertise in self-hosted AI deployment using Docker.

Rami Krispin

Workshop Instructor · April 26, 2026

Rami is a Senior Manager of Data Science and Engineering, Docker Captain, and LinkedIn Learning Instructor with deep expertise in building and deploying production AI systems. He guides you step by step from a blank terminal to a fully deployed private AI assistant — answering your questions live throughout the 4-hour session.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions About Self-Hosting a ChatGPT Alternative

Everything you need to know about building and running your own private AI.

What does it mean to self-host a ChatGPT alternative? +

Self-hosting means running the entire AI assistant stack on hardware you control — whether your laptop or a VPS server. In this workshop you self-host OpenClaw as the assistant layer and Docker Model Runner as the local LLM backend. No part of the system runs on a third party cloud AI provider's infrastructure.

Is self-hosting a ChatGPT alternative difficult? +

It was difficult two years ago. OpenClaw and Docker Model Runner in 2026 have significantly reduced the complexity. This live 4-hour workshop guides you through the complete self-hosted setup with a live instructor — far faster than piecing it together from documentation alone.

What server or hardware do I need to self-host this ChatGPT alternative? +

You can start self-hosting on your own laptop during this workshop. The final module covers deploying to a VPS server for always-on availability. A VPS with 16GB RAM is sufficient for a personal self-hosted AI assistant. The instructor covers server selection and configuration during the live session.

Is my data private when I self-host my ChatGPT alternative? +

Completely. When you self-host OpenClaw with Docker Model Runner, all inference happens on your own hardware. No conversation data is sent to OpenAI, Anthropic, or any other cloud AI provider. Your self-hosted assistant is fully air-gapped from cloud AI services.

Can I access my self-hosted ChatGPT alternative from anywhere? +

Yes. The workshop covers deploying to a VPS so your self-hosted assistant is accessible 24/7. Since it connects to WhatsApp or Telegram, you can interact with it from any device — your phone, laptop, or tablet — through those messaging apps.

What are the ongoing costs of self-hosting my own ChatGPT alternative? +

After the initial setup the ongoing cost is only your VPS hosting if you choose to deploy there — typically around $5 to $20 per month depending on the provider and spec. The AI model, OpenClaw, and Docker Model Runner are all free. This is a fraction of the cost of commercial AI subscriptions.