LocalAI vs vLLM: which one to choose in 2026?
Both are open source alternatives to OpenAI API. We compare license, tech stack and features to help you decide which fits your team best.
| LocalAI | vLLM | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Artificial Intelligence | Artificial Intelligence |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| GitHub stars | 26k | 29k |
| Tech stack | Go, C++ | Python, CUDA |
| Replaces | OpenAI API | OpenAI API |
vLLM has more GitHub stars, which usually indicates a larger community (not necessarily that it's the best option for your use case).
LocalAI
OpenAI-compatible API running local models, no per-token cost.
Pros
- Near-direct migration from code already using the OpenAI API
Things to consider
- Needs decent hardware (ideally a GPU) for large models
vLLM
High-performance LLM inference engine, an alternative to the OpenAI API in production.
Pros
- Purpose-built for serving LLMs in production at scale
Things to consider
- Requires a GPU with enough VRAM for the chosen model
Key features
LocalAI
- API compatible with the OpenAI SDK
- Chat, images, embeddings and audio
- Runs GGUF, GGML and more model formats
vLLM
- Much higher throughput thanks to PagedAttention
- OpenAI-compatible API
- Supports dozens of model architectures