head to head · open source
vllm vs OpenLLM
vllm has 96,095 GitHub stars, 24,279 forks, 7,953 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenLLM has 12,576 stars, 848 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. vllm leads on adoption by 664% (96,095 vs 12,576 stars). vllm is written in Python under Apache-2.0; OpenLLM is written in Python under Apache-2.0. vllm has attracted 25% as many forks as stars, OpenLLM 7%. vllm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (llama, llm, llm-serving), 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
| vllm | OpenLLM | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 848 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vllm if
- You weight community size — 96K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- 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 vllm
Easy, fast, and cheap LLM serving for everyone 🔥 We have built a vLLM website to help you get started with vLLM. Please visit vllm.ai to learn more. For events, please visit vllm.ai/events to join us. About vLLM is a fast and easy to use library for LLM inference and serving. Originally developed in the Sky Computing Lab at UC Berkeley, vLLM has grown into one of the most active open source AI projects built and maintained by a diverse community of many dozens of academic institutions and companies from over 2000 contributors. vLLM is fast with: State of the art serving throughput Efficient management of…
About OpenLLM
🦾 OpenLLM: Self Hosting LLMs Made Easy OpenLLM allows developers to run any open source LLMs (Llama 3.3, Qwen2.5, Phi3 and more) or custom models as OpenAI compatible APIs with a single command. It features a built in chat UI, state of the art inference backends, and a simplified workflow for creating enterprise grade cloud deployment with Docker, Kubernetes, and BentoCloud. Understand the design philosophy of OpenLLM. Get Started Run the following commands to install OpenLLM and explore it interactively. Supported models OpenLLM supports a wide range of state of the art open source LLMs. You can also add a…
read the full OpenLLM overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vllm or OpenLLM more popular?
vllm has 96,095 GitHub stars and OpenLLM has 12,576. vllm has the larger community by that measure.
Are vllm and OpenLLM free?
Both are open source. vllm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenLLM under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vllm and OpenLLM?
vllm is written in Python 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, vllm or OpenLLM?
Choose vllm if you want the larger community (96,095 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenLLM if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.