head to head · open source

llama.cpp vs gpustack

llama.cpp has 128,581 GitHub stars, 23,334 forks, 2,464 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gpustack has 5,707 stars, 649 forks, 696 open issues and last shipped yesterday. llama.cpp leads on adoption by 2,153% (128,581 vs 5,707 stars). llama.cpp is written in C++ under MIT; gpustack is written in Python under Apache-2.0. llama.cpp has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, gpustack 11%. llama.cpp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.

Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.

llama.cpp ★ 129K gpustack ★ 5.7K category AI & Machine Learning

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Side by side

	llama.cpp	gpustack
GitHub stars	★ 129K	★ 5.7K
License	MIT	Apache-2.0
Written in	C++	Python
Last push	2026-09-17	2026-09-17
Forks	⑂ 23K	⑂ 649
Self-hosting	Yes	Yes
Data ownership	Your server	Your server

pick llama.cpp if

You weight community size — 129K stars and counting
You want the MIT license terms
Your stack matches C++
You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance

full llama.cpp profile →

pick gpustack if

You want the gpustack feature set and don't need the biggest community
You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
Your stack matches Python
You evaluated both and gpustack fits your workflow better

full gpustack profile →

About llama.cpp

llama.cpp is a C/C++ library and set of command line tools for running large language models (LLMs) and vision language models (VLMs) locally. It enables inference without external dependencies, targeting diverse hardware including Apple Silicon, x86 CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs (via CUDA), AMD GPUs (via HIP), and other accelerators. The project lives in the ggml ecosystem, leveraging the ggml tensor computation library for low level operations and quantized model execution.

read the full llama.cpp overview →

About gpustack

GPUStack is an open source GPU cluster manager that configures and orchestrates inference engines such as vLLM, SGLang, and TensorRT LLM and launches on demand SSH accessible GPU instances, built for development teams, IT organizations, and service providers that deliver AI model serving at scale.

read the full gpustack overview →

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Frequently asked questions

Is llama.cpp or gpustack more popular?

llama.cpp has 128,581 GitHub stars and gpustack has 5,707. llama.cpp has the larger community by that measure.

Are llama.cpp and gpustack free?

Both are open source. llama.cpp is licensed under MIT and gpustack under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.

What is the difference between llama.cpp and gpustack?

llama.cpp is written in C++ and gpustack in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.

Which should I choose, llama.cpp or gpustack?

Choose llama.cpp if you want the larger community (128,581 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose gpustack if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.