llama.cpp

llama.cpp is an MIT-licensed C/C++ engine for running LLM and VLM inference on a wide range of hardware, from Apple silicon to NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs. It runs GGUF models from Hugging Face and includes a CLI, a web UI and an OpenAI-compatible server.

• Plain C/C++ implementation with no dependencies
• 1.5-bit to 8-bit integer quantization for faster inference and less memory
• Backends for Metal, CUDA, HIP, Vulkan, SYCL, WebGPU and more
• CPU+GPU hybrid inference for models larger than your VRAM
• llama serve starts an OpenAI-compatible API server with a built-in web UI
• Runs models straight from Hugging Face with llama cli -hf

Tasks

Use LLM & AI model APIs, Host & deploy apps

People

Developers running LLMs locally, Teams self-hosting an OpenAI-compatible API, People with Apple silicon, NVIDIA, AMD or Intel hardware

• You download the models and run them on your own hardware
• Speed and the largest model you can run depend on your CPU, GPU and memory

Is llama.cpp free?

Yes. llama.cpp has a free plan: Open source (MIT): free to run on your own hardware. We last checked github.com's pricing page on 2026-10-24.

What does the llama.cpp free plan include?

Open source (MIT): free to run on your own hardware. Source: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp (checked 2026-10-24).

How do I get llama.cpp for free?

Steps: Install with the curl or PowerShell script, Docker, a pre-built binary or a source build; Run llama cli -hf with a model, or llama serve for the API server. Start at https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp (checked 2026-10-24).

Do I need an account to use llama.cpp for free?

Not for the free option: the free route is to self-host llama.cpp (Install with the curl or PowerShell script, Docker, a pre-built binary or a source build). Checked 2026-10-24.

What's the catch with llama.cpp's free plan?

Models must fit your hardware; CPU+GPU hybrid inference helps with models larger than your VRAM. Checked 2026-10-24.

What are free alternatives to llama.cpp?

Exa (free credits), Requesty (free plan) and Crawl4AI (free plan) are free alternatives. We checked their free offers on 2026-10-25.

Can I use llama.cpp commercially?

Yes. The MIT License lists commercial use, modification, distribution and private use as permissions.Source: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/blob/master/LICENSE

Does llama.cpp have an OpenAI-compatible API?

Yes. llama serve launches an OpenAI-compatible API server, and a built-in web UI runs against it.Source: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp

What hardware does llama.cpp run on?

CPUs and GPUs: Apple silicon via Metal, NVIDIA via CUDA, AMD via HIP, Intel via SYCL, plus Vulkan, WebGPU and other backends.Source: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp

Free offer

Verified 2026-10-24 on github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/blob/master/LICENSE

…is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation…

Page content

Checked 2026-10-24 against

• github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp
• github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/blob/master/LICENSE
• llama.app

How we check free offers