head to head · open source
LocalAI vs selfhost-ai
LocalAI has 50,187 GitHub stars, 4,574 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped yesterday. selfhost-ai has 954 stars, 238 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. LocalAI leads on adoption by 5,161% (50,187 vs 954 stars). LocalAI is written in Go under MIT; selfhost-ai is written in Shell under Apache-2.0. LocalAI has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, selfhost-ai 25%. LocalAI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (llm, mcp), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| LocalAI | selfhost-ai | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 954 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.6K | ⑂ 238 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LocalAI if
- You weight community size — 50K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick selfhost-ai if
- You want the selfhost-ai feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and selfhost-ai fits your workflow better
About LocalAI
Deutsch Español français 日本語 한국어 Português Русский 中文 LocalAI is the open source AI engine. Run any model LLMs, vision, voice, image, video on any hardware. No GPU required. A small core, not a bundle. Each backend wraps a best in class engine (llama.cpp, vLLM, whisper.cpp, stable diffusion, MLX...) in its own image, pulled only when a model needs it. You install nothing you don't use. Composable by design : backends are separate and pulled on demand, so you install only what your model needs Open and extensible : load any model, or build your own backend in any language against an open interface Drop in API…
read the full LocalAI overview →
About selfhost-ai
Selfhost AI — Self Hosted AI Automation Platform Deploy 30+ AI and automation tools with a single command. This open source Docker Compose template creates a complete self hosted environment with n8n (workflow automation), Flowise (AI agents), Ollama (local LLMs), vector databases (Qdrant, Weaviate), RAG engines, Supabase, monitoring stack, and more — all pre configured behind Caddy reverse proxy with automatic HTTPS. Plus, optionally import 300+ community workflows during setup! Table of Contents Key Features Why This Setup? What's Included Installation Quick Start and Usage Upgrading Quick Commands…
read the full selfhost-ai overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More Machine Learning Infrastructure projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Machine Learning Infrastructure field.
Frequently asked questions
Is LocalAI or selfhost-ai more popular?
LocalAI has 50,187 GitHub stars and selfhost-ai has 954. LocalAI has the larger community by that measure.
Are LocalAI and selfhost-ai free?
Both are open source. LocalAI is licensed under MIT and selfhost-ai under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LocalAI and selfhost-ai?
LocalAI is written in Go and selfhost-ai in Shell. 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 selfhost-ai?
Choose LocalAI if you want the larger community (50,187 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose selfhost-ai if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.