Tool Category

Model Runtimes

Download and run local models on a workstation, laptop, or single server.

Open source

Jan

Runtimes

Jan HQ · Apache-2.0

An open-source desktop chat application and local API for running models privately on a personal computer.

Desktop / localmacOSWindows
Best for

Open-source desktop local chat

Open source

llama.cpp

Runtimes

ggml-org · MIT

A portable C/C++ inference engine that underpins much of the GGUF local-model ecosystem.

Desktop / localSelf-hostedmacOSWindows
Best for

Maximum portability and runtime control

Proprietary

LM Studio

Runtimes

LM Studio · Proprietary

A polished desktop application for discovering, running, and serving local models.

Desktop / localmacOSWindows
Best for

Exploring local models from a desktop UI

Open source

LocalAI

Serving

LocalAI Project · MIT

A self-hosted OpenAI-compatible API that runs language, image, audio, and multimodal models through modular local backends.

Desktop / localSelf-hostedmacOSLinux
Best for

One private API across several AI modalities

Open source

MLX LM

Runtimes

Apple MLX · MIT

Apple Silicon-native tooling for generating, quantizing, fine-tuning, and serving language models with MLX.

Desktop / localSelf-hostedmacOS
Best for

Efficient LLM work on Apple Silicon

Open source

Ollama

Runtimes

Ollama · MIT

A straightforward local model runtime with a CLI, model library, and local API.

Desktop / localSelf-hostedmacOSWindows
Best for

Running local models with minimal setup

Open source

GPT4All

Runtimes

Nomic AI · MIT

A private desktop chat application and Python SDK for running GGUF language models on everyday computers.

Desktop / localSelf-hostedmacOSWindows
Best for

Offline desktop chat on consumer computers

Open source

KoboldCpp

Runtimes

KoboldCpp Project · AGPL-3.0

A compact GGUF runtime and web interface focused on local text generation, roleplay, and story workflows.

Desktop / localSelf-hostedmacOSWindows
Best for

Local creative writing and roleplay

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