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Ollama vs MLX LM: catalog facts
Ollama	MLX LM
Freemium Running models locally is free. The optional hosted cloud inference starts at $20 a month.	Free Free to install and use.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	macOS, Command line
One command to download and run a model, with no Python environment to build first A REST API on localhost, so editors, scripts and agents can use the local model	Runs models on Apple silicon through MLX One-command access to models on the Hugging Face Hub
Model quality is bounded by your hardware; large models need a lot of VRAM or unified memory The company now also sells cloud inference, so read carefully which mode you are in	Apple silicon only Command line and Python, with no graphical interface
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Closed source
License: MIT	License not stated
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 20, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.