head to head · open source
llama.cpp vs InferenceX
llama.cpp has 133,181 GitHub stars, 25,063 forks, 2,464 open issues and last shipped yesterday. InferenceX has 1,964 stars, 351 forks, 254 open issues and last shipped yesterday. llama.cpp leads on adoption by 6,681% (133,181 vs 1,964 stars). llama.cpp is written in C++ under MIT; InferenceX is written in Python under Apache-2.0. llama.cpp has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, InferenceX 18%. InferenceX 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.
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Side by side
| llama.cpp | InferenceX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 133K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 351 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick llama.cpp if
- You weight community size — 133K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick InferenceX if
- You want the InferenceX 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 InferenceX fits your workflow better
About llama.cpp
llama.cpp LLM inference in C/C++ ggml / ops / maintainer PRs%20sort%3Aupdated desc) / dev stats / lib llama API / llama server REST API Quick start A few options to get llama.cpp installed on your machine: Visit and follow the instructions Run with Docker see our Docker documentation Download pre built binaries from the releases page Build from source by cloning this repository check out our build guide Once installed: VLM session with llama cli Built in web UI against llama serve Description The main goal of llama.cpp is to enable LLM (and VLM) inference with minimal setup and state of the art performance on a…
read the full llama.cpp overview →
About InferenceX
InferenceX™, Open Source Continuous Inference Standard and Research Platform / 开源持续推理标准与研究平台 English 中文 Trusted by Operators of Trillion Dollar Token Factories such as OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, etc, & ML Community such as PyTorch Foundation, vLLM, SGLang, Tri Dao News [2026/08] 🔥 AgentX: World's First Fully Open Source Apache 2.0 Realistic 1Mil+ Long Context, Multi Turn Benchmark Live dashboard [2026/08] 🔥 GLM5.3: continuous agentic benchmarks live too dashboard [2026/07] 🔥 Kimi K3 2.8T: continuous benchmarks live since Day 0 [2026/06] 🔥 MiniMax M3: continuous benchmarks live since Day 0 dashboard…
read the full InferenceX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is llama.cpp or InferenceX more popular?
llama.cpp has 133,181 GitHub stars and InferenceX has 1,964. llama.cpp has the larger community by that measure.
Are llama.cpp and InferenceX free?
Both are open source. llama.cpp is licensed under MIT and InferenceX under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between llama.cpp and InferenceX?
llama.cpp is written in C++ and InferenceX 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 InferenceX?
Choose llama.cpp if you want the larger community (133,181 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose InferenceX if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.