head to head · open source
LocalAI vs OpenLLM
LocalAI has 49,179 GitHub stars, 4,458 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped today. OpenLLM has 12,539 stars, 842 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. LocalAI leads on adoption by 292% (49,179 vs 12,539 stars). LocalAI is written in Go under MIT; OpenLLM is written in Python under Apache-2.0. LocalAI has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, OpenLLM 7%. LocalAI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (llama, llm), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| LocalAI | OpenLLM | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 49K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 842 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LocalAI if
- You weight community size — 49K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenLLM if
- You want the OpenLLM 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 OpenLLM fits your workflow better
About LocalAI
LocalAI is an open source AI runtime that enables running large language models (LLMs), vision, audio, image, and video models locally or on premises. It operates as a modular engine where each model type is backed by a dedicated, lightweight backend—such as llama.cpp, whisper.cpp, or stable diffusion—pulled only when needed. This composable architecture avoids bundling unnecessary dependencies, keeping the core minimal while supporting diverse modalities and hardware configurations.
read the full LocalAI overview →
About OpenLLM
OpenLLM is an Apache 2.0 Python project from BentoML that runs open source or custom large language models as OpenAI compatible API endpoints on self hosted infrastructure, and it is aimed at developers and platform teams who want to serve Llama, Qwen, Mistral, DeepSeek and similar models in the cloud without rewriting their client code.
read the full OpenLLM overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LocalAI or OpenLLM more popular?
LocalAI has 49,179 GitHub stars and OpenLLM has 12,539. LocalAI has the larger community by that measure.
Are LocalAI and OpenLLM free?
Both are open source. LocalAI is licensed under MIT and OpenLLM under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LocalAI and OpenLLM?
LocalAI is written in Go and OpenLLM 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, LocalAI or OpenLLM?
Choose LocalAI if you want the larger community (49,179 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose OpenLLM if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.