Pick llama.cpp if
engineers who are comfortable with a compiler or a release binary and a GGUF path.
Read the llama.cpp pagellama.cpp vs Ollama
Our take
Pick llama.cpp if engineers who are comfortable with a compiler or a release binary and a GGUF path. Pick Ollama if developers and privacy-sensitive teams who have RAM/VRAM and want Llama/Gemma/DeepSeek without a per-seat chat plan. Skip llama.cpp if someone who wants a downloadable chat window (Ollama, Jan, GPT4All) and will not pass -m model.gguf. Skip Ollama if someone who wants a polished hosted chat with
llama.cpp
C/C++ inference engine for GGUF models
Best for
llama.cpp Run an open model without a Python serving stack
Ollama Keeping weights and prompts on hardware you control
Free plan
llama.cpp $0 · mIT. You pay disk, RAM, and (optionally) a GPU
Ollama $0 · no license fee. You pay electricity, disk, and GPU. The desktop app and CLI are free to download
Lowest paid
llama.cpp Not published by the vendor
Ollama
Coding agent
llama.cpp
Ollama Claude Code
Runs where
llama.cpp Local; you host it
Ollama Local or hosted
Watch out
llama.cpp You bring the weights
Ollama Hardware is the bill
Last checked
llama.cpp 2026-10-20 · github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp
Ollama 2026-10-19 · ollama.com
Which one, then?
Pick Ollama if
developers and privacy-sensitive teams who have RAM/VRAM and want Llama/Gemma/DeepSeek without a per-seat chat plan.
Read the Ollama page