If you want to run AI on your own computer, you'll end up choosing between the same two free apps almost everyone uses: Ollama and LM Studio. Both download open models like Qwen, Gemma and gpt-oss, both run them fully offline, and both are built on the same open-source engine underneath. Where they differ is who they're built for.
Our verdict: LM Studio is the better choice for most people, especially on a Mac. It's a real app with a model browser that tells you what fits in your memory, and it has fast Apple-native performance. Ollama is the better choice for developers: it runs quietly in the background, it's open source, and it's the default backend that coding tools and agents plug into. Plenty of people end up using both.
The Short Version
Pick LM Studio if you want a normal app: browse models, see which ones fit your RAM, click download, start chatting.
Pick Ollama if you want a local AI server for scripts, coding agents or other apps, or you want open source.
On a Mac: both now run Apple's MLX engine. LM Studio has had it longer and is often a bit faster on bigger models.
On an NVIDIA PC: Ollama is usually 10–20% faster.
Side by Side
| Ollama | LM Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| License | Open source (MIT) | Closed source |
| Latest version | 0.34.4 (Sep 23, 2026) | 0.4.25 (Sep 19, 2026) |
| Interface | Terminal plus a simple Mac menu-bar and chat app | Full desktop app |
| Finding models | ollama pull from Ollama's library | Hugging Face browser with RAM estimates per version |
| Apple Silicon engine | MLX on by default | MLX runtime, selectable in the app |
| Speed on NVIDIA | Usually 10–20% faster | Slightly slower |
| Runs in the background | Yes, starts at login automatically | Optional; needs setup |
| API for other apps | OpenAI-compatible, port 11434 | OpenAI-compatible, port 1234 |
| Best for | Developers, agents, always-on servers | Everyone else, and anyone comparing models |
Speed: Closer Than It Used to Be
Most speed comparisons you'll find online are out of date, because both apps have changed a lot this year.
- Mac, big models: LM Studio built its name on Apple's MLX engine. In a March 2026 test on an M4 Pro Mac mini running Qwen3-Coder 30B, it generated 102 tokens per second against Ollama's 70. Ollama has since switched MLX on by default for Apple Silicon, so expect that gap to be much smaller on current versions.
- Mac, small models, same file: it's a tie. In a July 2026 test on an M2 Max with an identical Qwen3 4B file, both produced about 67 tokens per second and used about 3GB of memory. LM Studio answered first much faster, though: 26 milliseconds against 162.
- NVIDIA graphics cards: Ollama is consistently 10–20% faster thanks to lower overhead.
Bottom line: speed shouldn't decide this. Pick based on how you want to work.
Ease of Use: LM Studio, Clearly
LM Studio's killer feature is its model browser. Search for a model, and it lists every version with its size and whether it fits your machine's memory, then downloads it in one click. You can compare two versions of the same model side by side, tune context length and other settings, and chat in a polished window. For anyone who doesn't live in a terminal, it removes the guesswork.
Ollama is simpler in a different way. One command downloads and runs a model, and a Mac menu-bar app keeps it running. But it assumes you know which model you want, and its built-in chat is basic. Most Ollama users pair it with a separate chat app.
For Developers: Ollama, Clearly
Ollama was built to be infrastructure. It starts at login, sits quietly in the background and exposes a local API that most coding tools, agent frameworks and chat apps support out of the box. It can also connect local models to desktop apps like Claude Desktop and ChatGPT Desktop. It's open source under the MIT license, it's usually first to support new model architectures, and it's lighter on memory when idle.
LM Studio has closed much of that gap with a headless server mode since January, and its API works with the same tools. But getting it to run in the background takes extra setup, and it isn't open source, which matters to some teams.
Which Model Should You Run?
Either app runs the same models. Right now our pick is Qwen3.8 27B if you have 24–32GB of memory, or gpt-oss-20b on a 16GB laptop. Details and hardware requirements are in Best Free Local LLM 2026. Not sure how much memory you have to work with? Try our RAM calculator.
What About Jan?
Jan is the third popular option: a simple, ChatGPT-style app that runs fully offline. It's the easiest for complete beginners, but it has fewer controls than LM Studio and a thinner API than Ollama. We compare all three in Ollama vs LM Studio vs Jan.
The Verdict
Install LM Studio if you want to use local AI. It's the easiest way to find, download and chat with models, and it's excellent on a Mac. Install Ollama if you want to build with local AI. It's the always-on, open-source backend that developer tools expect. Both are free, both work offline and they happily run side by side, so there's no wrong first choice.
FAQ
Is Ollama or LM Studio better?
LM Studio is better for most people because it's a full app with a model browser that shows what fits your computer's memory. Ollama is better for developers because it runs in the background, is open source and offers a local API that coding tools and agents support.
Is LM Studio faster than Ollama?
On Macs with larger models, LM Studio has often been faster thanks to Apple's MLX engine, though Ollama now uses MLX by default too. With identical small models, speeds are nearly the same. On NVIDIA graphics cards, Ollama is usually 10–20% faster.
Are Ollama and LM Studio free?
Yes, both are free. Ollama is open source under the MIT license. LM Studio is free but closed source.
Can I use Ollama and LM Studio together?
Yes. They use different ports (Ollama 11434, LM Studio 1234), so both can run on the same computer. Many people use LM Studio to find and test models and Ollama to serve them to other apps.
Do Ollama and LM Studio work offline?
Yes. After you download a model, both run it entirely on your computer with no internet connection, and your prompts and files never leave your machine.