head to head · open source
llama.cpp vs server
llama.cpp has 133,181 GitHub stars, 25,063 forks, 2,464 open issues and last shipped yesterday. server has 8,506 stars, 2,290 forks, 495 open issues and last shipped yesterday. llama.cpp leads on adoption by 1,466% (133,181 vs 8,506 stars). llama.cpp is written in C++ under MIT; server is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. llama.cpp has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, server 27%. server 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 | server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 133K | ★ 8.5K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| 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 server if
- You want the server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and server 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 server
MariaDB Server MariaDB Server is one of the most widely deployed open source relational databases. It is built by a global community of contributors together with the MariaDB Foundation and MariaDB plc, and it powers workloads from small applications to large scale production systems. MariaDB began as a fork of MySQL, led by the original MySQL developers, and it maintains a high degree of MySQL compatibility. It has since grown into a database with its own capabilities, including native vector search, multiple pluggable storage engines, synchronous clustering, and analytical features, while remaining a…
read the full server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is llama.cpp or server more popular?
llama.cpp has 133,181 GitHub stars and server has 8,506. llama.cpp has the larger community by that measure.
Are llama.cpp and server free?
Both are open source. llama.cpp is licensed under MIT and server under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between llama.cpp and server?
llama.cpp is written in C++ and server in C++. 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 server?
Choose llama.cpp if you want the larger community (133,181 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose server if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.