Ollama
by Ollama
A tool for running open-source LLMs locally, with an OpenAI-compatible API and an optional cloud inference tier.
Pros
- + Free local inference with no per-token charges
- + OpenAI-compatible HTTP API for easy integration
- + Handles model management, quantization, and GPU allocation
- + Supports vision models and tool calling
Cons
- − Local performance is bound by your hardware
- − Large models need significant RAM or VRAM
- − Cloud tier needed to run frontier-scale models
What Is Ollama
Ollama is a tool for running open-source large language models locally. It manages model downloads, quantization, and GPU memory allocation, and exposes an OpenAI-compatible HTTP API so existing code can target a local model with minimal changes.
In Practice
Ollama is the default choice for developers who want private, offline inference or who want to avoid per-token API costs. It supports vision models, structured JSON outputs, and tool calling. For models too large to run on local hardware, Ollama also offers a paid cloud inference tier on monthly subscriptions. Adoption has grown sharply, with the project reporting tens of millions of monthly downloads in 2026.