LM Studio

Name: LM Studio
Brand: Element Labs

by Element Labs

@ai’s Choicein Run AI on your own computerBest overall

The one I'd start with to run AI on your own computer. Browse, download and chat with open models in one app, free for home and work.

What’s good

Free for home and work use
Mac, Windows and Linux apps
OpenAI-compatible local server

Heads-up

Intel Macs aren't supported
16GB of RAM or more recommended

The details

Best for: Anyone who wants to run open models in a desktop app
Price: From $20/mo (Bionic+, adds US-hosted cloud models)
Free plan: Free for home and work; runs models locally
Skill level: Any level
Made by: Element Labs
Website: lmstudio.ai
Price checked: Oct 1, 2026

Where it ranks

#1Run AI on your own computerBest overall

Compare with similar picks

	LM Studio	Ollama	AnythingLLM	Jan
Rank in Run AI on your own computer	#1	#2	#3	#4
Price	From $20/moLocal use free; Bionic+ $20/mo or Pro $100/mo for cloud models	From $20/moLocal use free; Pro $20/mo or $200/yr; extra cloud credits pay-as-you-go	From $50/moDesktop free; hosted Cloud billed monthly (Basic $50, Pro $99)	FreeFree; cloud models are billed by the provider whose API key you add
Free plan	Free: local LLMs (llama.cpp, MLX), Bionic agent, offline voice, LM Link 5 devices	Free: unlimited local models, starter cloud credits on starter models, 1 concurrent	Free desktop app (no account needed) and free self-hosting with Docker	Free and open source: local models offline; add cloud providers with API keys
Entry plan	Bionic+ $20/mo	Pro $20/mo billed monthly ($200/yr)	Cloud Basic $50/mo (private instance; bring your own LLM API key)	None listed; Jan is free and open source
What you get	US-hosted open models (Kimi K3, GLM 5.3, DeepSeek V4 Flash), web search	$60 of cloud usage credits/mo, larger pro models, 3 concurrent requests	Private hosted instance, custom subdomain, RAG and agents; LLM costs separate	Not published
Cost per result	Not published	~$0.33 per $1 of cloud model usage ($60 credits for $20/mo)	Not published	Not published
Commercial use	Terms license use for personal and internal business purposes	MIT-licensed open source	MIT-licensed open source, licensed for organizational use	Apache 2.0 license
Works with	Hugging Face downloads, OpenAI-compatible local server, lms CLI, JS/Python SDKs	OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible API, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Copilot CLI, OpenCode	Local or API LLMs, Microsoft Foundry Local, developer API, custom agent skills	OpenAI, Anthropic, Google via API keys; custom endpoints; MCP; local API server
Platforms	macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows (x64/ARM), Linux (x64/ARM64)	macOS 14+, Windows, Linux	macOS (Apple Silicon/Intel), Windows (x64/ARM), Linux, Android, Docker	Mac, Windows, Linux; Jan Agent CLI
Your data	Local models run on-device; Bionic cloud and web search are zero data retention	Cloud prompts and responses are never logged or trained on	Local by default: models, documents and chats stay on your device	No chat or prompt logging; opt-in anonymous usage analytics only
Best for	Anyone who wants to run open models in a desktop app	Developers who want local models behind an API for apps and agents	People who want private AI over their own files and meetings	Beginners who want a simple, open-source ChatGPT-style app
Skill level	Any level	Built for pros	Beginner-friendly	Beginner-friendly
	Try it free	Try it free	Try it free	Try it free

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