A agentindex
Comparison

llama.cpp vs Ollama

A like-for-like, spec-level comparison. Both entries are verified against their docs and repo.

llama.cpp

C/C++ inference for GGUF models on any hardware.

  • + Runs on almost any hardware, including CPU-only
  • + Defines the widely-used GGUF format
  • − Lower-level than managed servers
  • − Performance tuning requires quantization knowledge

Ollama

Run large language models locally with one command.

  • + Easiest path to running models locally
  • + Huge model library and OpenAI-compatible API
  • − Less throughput than dedicated serving engines
  • − Local hardware limits model size
Spec llama.cpp Ollama
Role Inference engine Inference engine
Tags inference-engine inference-engine
License MIT MIT
Open source Yes Yes
Self-hostable Yes Yes
MCP support No No
Pricing free free
Price Free Free
Usage cost No model cost No model cost
Models local, multi local, multi
Languages cpp go
GitHub stars 119.2k 175.4k
Last activity 2026-07-03 2026-07-04