LM Studio
LM Studio is a desktop application for discovering, downloading and running open-weight language models on your own computer, with a chat interface, document and coding tools, and a local API server compatible with common LLM client libraries. It can also connect to larger frontier open models when local hardware isn't enough. The app is free to download, with paid tiers for additional features.
Facts checked on against the sources listed at the end of this page.
- Pricing
- FreemiumFree plan: Yes, the core app and running local models is free
- Open source
- NoProprietary (the app); models it runs carry their own individual licenses
- npm downloads a week
- 68.6kup 22% on the week before
A good fit for
- Developers and hobbyists who want a graphical way to run open-weight models locally
- Trying out multiple open models with a chat interface before scripting anything
- Building tools against a local, OpenAI-API-compatible endpoint
- Privacy-sensitive use where data should stay on the local machine
Not a good fit for
- Users who prefer a pure command-line workflow without a desktop app
- Teams that need a managed, always-on server rather than a desktop application
- Workloads that always need the largest proprietary frontier models rather than open weights
LM Studio pricing
LM Studio is free to download and use for running local models. Additional pricing tiers are listed on the app's own pricing page for extra features or hosted frontier model access.
Prices in USD, checked on 27 September 2026. Current prices on lmstudio.ai.
Main features
- Model browser
- Search and download open-weight models from within the app.
- Chat interface
- Built-in UI for chatting with a loaded local or frontier open model.
- Local API server
- OpenAI-API-compatible local server so other tools can call the running model.
- Document and coding tools
- Editing and coding assistance backed by a loaded model.
- Local voice transcription
- Real-time speech-to-text processed on-device.
- Cross-platform
- Available for macOS, Windows and Linux.
About LM Studio
LM Studio provides a graphical interface for browsing, downloading and chatting with open-weight models on your own machine, without needing to use the command line. It includes a built-in chat UI plus document editing, coding assistance and local voice transcription.
Alongside local models, LM Studio can route to larger frontier open models hosted elsewhere for tasks that exceed local hardware, giving a single interface for both local and cloud-scale open models.
It exposes a local API server compatible with the OpenAI API format, so existing tools and libraries built for hosted APIs can be pointed at a locally running model instead.
- Made by
- LM Studio
- Free plan
- Yes, the core app and running local models is free
- Available on
- macOS, Windows, Linux
Usage and activity
Weekly npm downloads of @lmstudio/sdk, last 12 months.
LM Studio alternatives
LM Studio compared
Questions about LM Studio
Is LM Studio free?
Yes, downloading the app and running local models is free. Paid tiers exist for additional features, detailed on LM Studio's pricing page.
What platforms does LM Studio support?
macOS, Windows and Linux.
Does LM Studio have an API?
Yes, it runs a local server compatible with the OpenAI API format, so existing client libraries can connect to a local model.
Ollama vs LM Studio, what's the difference?
Ollama is primarily a command-line tool and local API server, while LM Studio is a desktop app with a graphical chat interface built around browsing and running open models, alongside its own local API.
Sources and links
Work on LM Studio? Claim this listing. Something wrong or out of date? Suggest a correction. Stats come from the public GitHub and npm APIs and update every day.