Free apps to run LLMs locally
Running locally removes quotas and privacy concerns: the model runs on your hardware. Most apps expose an OpenAI-compatible server for IDEs and agents.
11 tools9 open source
| # | Tool ↕ | What is free | License | Platforms | GitHub ↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ollama Ollama Inc. |
Running models locally is free and unlimited; the Ollama Cloud free plan adds starter usage and 1 concurrent request, paid plans start at $20/mo. | Open source MIT |
WindowsmacOSLinuxDockerCLI | ★ 181,500 | |
| 2 | llama.cpp ggml-org |
Completely free and open source, with no accounts, API keys or usage limits. | Open source MIT |
WindowsmacOSLinuxDockerCLI | ★ 129,300 | |
| 3 | vLLM vLLM Project |
Completely free and open source, but it needs your own hardware, usually a server GPU. | Open source Apache-2.0 |
LinuxDockerCLI | ★ 92,500 | |
| 4 | LocalAI Ettore Di Giacinto & community |
Completely free and open source for self-hosting, with no paid offering. | Open source MIT |
LinuxmacOSDockerCLI | ★ 49,200 | |
| 5 | TextGen (text-generation-webui) oobabooga |
Completely free and open source, fully offline, with no telemetry. | Open source AGPL-3.0 |
WindowsmacOSLinux | ★ 47,700 | |
| 6 | Jan Menlo Research |
Fully free and open source with no paid tiers; run local models or bring your own cloud API keys. | Open source Apache-2.0 |
WindowsmacOSLinux | ★ 44,600 | |
| 7 | KoboldCpp LostRuins (Concedo) |
Completely free and open source, distributed as a single executable with no install. | Open source AGPL-3.0 |
WindowsmacOSLinuxDockerCLI | ★ 11,800 | |
| 8 | Lemonade Lemonade community (sponsored by AMD) |
Completely free and open source, with zero telemetry. | Open source Apache-2.0 |
WindowsmacOSLinuxDockerCLI | ★ 5,800 | |
| 9 | LM Studio Element Labs |
The desktop app, including local inference and the Bionic agent, is free for personal and work use; optional paid plans add cloud models and team features. | Free proprietary |
WindowsmacOSLinux | — | |
| 10 | Msty Studio Msty |
Msty Studio Desktop is free for personal, non-commercial use only; commercial use and advanced features need the paid Aurum plan. | Free tier proprietary |
WindowsmacOSLinux | — | |
| 11 | GPT4All Nomic AI Not maintained |
Free and open source for local use, but development appears stalled: the last release (v3.10.0) shipped in February 2025. | Open source MIT |
WindowsmacOSLinux | ★ 77,400 |
Nothing found.
Need a free model for these tools? Pick one in the catalog — every model card has a base URL and a code sample. Coding models · Models for agents