Ollama

A command-line tool and local server for running open-weight language models on your own Mac, Windows or Linux machine, with a simple API for other apps.

186k stars, 18.8k forks Go On GitHub since June 2023

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Ollama?

Ollama downloads open-weight models such as Gemma, Qwen, DeepSeek or gpt-oss from its library and runs them on your own computer. You chat with a model in the terminal or the desktop app, and other programs talk to it through a local REST API, which is why many chat interfaces and coding agents list Ollama as a backend. It uses llama.cpp as one of its engines.

Good fit if

  • You want to use language models privately, without sending prompts to a cloud API.
  • You are building an app or agent and want a local model server that installs in one step and keeps a stable API.
  • You plan to put a chat interface such as Open WebUI or a coding agent in front of it.

Look elsewhere if

  • You need a complete chat app for a team, with accounts, documents and sharing: Ollama is the engine, so pair it with Open WebUI or AnythingLLM.
  • You serve many users at once on GPU servers: vLLM is built for high-throughput serving.

Before you adopt it

Ollama is MIT-licensed, with no paid parts in the repository. It can also run some models in Ollama's cloud; those run on Ollama's servers, not yours, so check which kind you are using if privacy is why you chose it. Large models need plenty of memory: beyond small models, plan on a recent GPU or an Apple Silicon machine.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Ollama health: is it still maintained?

89 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    367 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 31 October 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    12 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 38% of them.
    15 / 20
  • Releases
    15 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v0.40.13, on 28 October 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 100% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 1 hour.
    20 / 20
  • Security practices
    No OpenSSF Scorecard for this repository yet, so this part gets a neutral score.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Ollama license: is it open source?

Ollama uses MIT, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. June 2023First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayMIT.

How to run Ollama yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for macOS, Windows, Linux, including ARM in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: ollama.com or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Ollama

  • vLLMA high-throughput and memory-efficient inference and serving engine for LLMs 84 health · Apache-2.0 · 96k stars
  • KoboldCppKoboldCpp - Run GGUF AI models locally with a KoboldAI UI. One File. Zero Install. 93 health · AGPL-3.0 · 12.1k stars
  • FastGPTFastGPT is a knowledge-based platform built on the LLMs, offers a comprehensive suite of out-of-the-box… 82 health · FastGPT Open Source License · 30k stars
  • Open WebUIUser-friendly AI Interface (Supports Ollama, OpenAI API, ...) 76 health · Open WebUI License · 157k stars
  • Cherry StudioYour AI workspace for models, agents, and productivity. 81 health · AGPL-3.0 · 53.2k stars

All 36 projects in AI chat & local LLMs

Questions about Ollama

Is Ollama open source?

Yes. Ollama is published under MIT, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Ollama still maintained?

Its health score is 89 of 100 (actively developed). It had 367 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 31 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 28 October 2026.

How do I run Ollama?

You can run it with Docker, as an app for macOS, Windows, Linux, including ARM. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Ollama?

Close alternatives in the AI chat & local LLMs category include vLLM, KoboldCpp, FastGPT.