What is LocalAI used for?

LocalAI is an open-source AI engine that runs LLMs, vision, voice, image and video models on your own hardware behind OpenAI-compatible APIs, with no GPU required. It is a good fit for private self-hosted replacement for cloud AI APIs, running models on CPU-only servers and shared AI service with per-user quotas.

Is LocalAI open source?

Yes. LocalAI is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mudler/LocalAI and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. LocalAI is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host LocalAI?

Yes. LocalAI can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is LocalAI an alternative to?

LocalAI is an open-source alternative to ChatGPT, Replicate, Together AI and Fireworks AI. Other open-source alternatives to ChatGPT include Ollama and llamafile.

Is LocalAI actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to LocalAI was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v4.10.0, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 49k stars on GitHub.

LocalAI: open-source alternative to ChatGPT, Replicate

About LocalAI

LocalAI is an open-source AI engine for running models of many kinds, including language, vision, voice, image and video models, on your own hardware. A GPU is not required. It is written in Go and released under the MIT license, was started by Ettore Di Giacinto and is looked after by the LocalAI team.

Its design is a small core with separate backends that are pulled on demand, so nothing unused gets installed. Backends wrap engines such as llama.cpp, vLLM, whisper.cpp, stable-diffusion and MLX, and you can write your own in any language against an open interface. It can run on CPU alone, through Vulkan, or on NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Apple Silicon hardware.

APIs are drop-in compatible with OpenAI, Anthropic and ElevenLabs across every backend. Multi-user features include API key authentication, user quotas and role-based access, and built-in agents support tool use, RAG, MCP and skills. The project stresses that data stays on your infrastructure. It suits developers and teams who want a private, self-hosted replacement for cloud AI APIs.

Key features

Runs LLM, vision, voice, image and video models
Composable backends pulled on demand
OpenAI, Anthropic and ElevenLabs API compatibility
Runs on CPU, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Apple Silicon
API key authentication, quotas and role-based access
Built-in agents with tools, RAG and MCP

Good fit for

→Private self-hosted replacement for cloud AI APIs
→Running models on CPU-only servers
→Shared AI service with per-user quotas

Built with: Go
Tags: local-ai; llm; self-hosted; openai-compatible; golang; image-generation; speech; agents

LocalAI: questions and answers

What is LocalAI used for?: LocalAI is an open-source AI engine that runs LLMs, vision, voice, image and video models on your own hardware behind OpenAI-compatible APIs, with no GPU required. It is a good fit for private self-hosted replacement for cloud AI APIs, running models on CPU-only servers and shared AI service with per-user quotas.
Is LocalAI open source?: Yes. LocalAI is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mudler/LocalAI and is written mainly in Go.
Is LocalAI free?: Yes. LocalAI is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host LocalAI?: Yes. LocalAI can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is LocalAI an alternative to?: LocalAI is an open-source alternative to ChatGPT, Replicate, Together AI and Fireworks AI. Other open-source alternatives to ChatGPT include Ollama and llamafile.
Is LocalAI actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to LocalAI was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v4.10.0, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 49k stars on GitHub.