Who is “Best tools to run AI models locally” best for?

People who want models on their own machine, from a terminal, a desktop app, or a local image graph.

Why is “Best tools to run AI models locally” ordered this way?

The command-line runtime first, then the desktop app, then the local image graph. Open-weight models are not ranked as apps.

66 tools10 shortlists7 head-to-headsupdated Oct 19, 2026

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Best tools to run AI models locally

A command-line runtime, a desktop app, and a local image graph.

If you only try one: Ollama. The free, open-source local runtime many editors and agents connect to. It is not a chat subscription. Hardware limits what you can run.

Updated Oct 19, 2026
3 picks
Editorial ranking, not a benchmark
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Our picks at a glance

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#1 · Best command-line runtime

Ollama

4.5/5 · Free

The free, open-source local runtime many editors and agents connect to.

Visit Ollama

#2 · Best desktop local app

LM Studio

4.3/5 · Free

The desktop app for finding models, running them locally, and talking to them, including an API other apps…

Visit LM Studio

#3 · Best local image graph

ComfyUI

4.4/5 · Free

The open-source node editor for local and custom image-model workflows.

Visit ComfyUI

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These three are apps for running models on your own machine. Ollama is the free, open-source command-line runtime many editors and agents connect to. LM Studio is the desktop app for downloading models and chatting with them locally, including an API other apps can call. ComfyUI is the open-source node editor for local image workflows. Two open-weight models in the directory are models you can run, not apps on this shortlist. Beam is Reflection's model, released October 16, 2026, with Apache 2.0 weights, a 1 million token context window, and a public API beta Reflection says is free to start. Muse Spark Open is Meta's multimodal model, released October 15, 2026, with a 1 million token context window and the Muse Model License, which Meta says has limited commercial terms and lets many developers use the weights for free. Scores on the three apps are unchanged.

01
Ollama
Free, open-source way to run open models locally from the command line.
The free, open-source local runtime many editors and agents connect to. It is not a chat subscription. Hardware limits what you can run.
FreeLocal models
4.5/ 5
Visit website
02
LM Studio
Desktop app for downloading and chatting with models on your own machine.
The desktop app for finding models, running them locally, and talking to them, including an API other apps can call. The graphical counterpart to Ollama.
FreeLocal models
4.3/ 5
Visit website
03
ComfyUI
ComfyUI is an open-source node editor for local and custom image-model workflows, for people who want the graph.
The open-source node editor for local and custom image-model workflows. The pick when you want the graph, not a first image.
FreeImage generationLocal models
4.4/ 5
Visit website

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Quote this ranking

Who is “Best tools to run AI models locally” best for?: People who want models on their own machine, from a terminal, a desktop app, or a local image graph.
Why is “Best tools to run AI models locally” ordered this way?: The command-line runtime first, then the desktop app, then the local image graph. Open-weight models are not ranked as apps.
When was “Best tools to run AI models locally” last updated?: Last updated Oct 19, 2026.