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LM Studio
LM Studio is a desktop application that runs open source language models for work, coding, and document creation locally or in the cloud.
Bionic is LM Studio's agent for work and code, allowing users to create and edit documents, slides, PDFs, and software. It runs local large language models using MLX and llama.cpp or connects to US-hosted open source frontier models like GLM, Kimi, and DeepSeek. The software features real-time offline voice transcription that processes audio locally and never leaves the device. Users can download local LLMs directly within the app, connect up to five devices using LM Link, and utilize web search capabilities. It is designed for individuals who want local AI features combined with optional cloud inference while maintaining zero data retention.
LM Studio at a glance
- Best for: Software engineer, Researcher, Student
- Runs on: macOS, Windows, Linux
- Pricing: Free plan; Bionic+ paid plan; Pro paid plan
- Released: May 2023
- Category: AI chat assistant
- Website: lmstudio.ai
Key features
- Run local LLMs using llama.cpp and MLX
- Real-time offline voice transcription
- Create and edit documents and code
- Connect up to five devices with LM Link
- Web search and page extraction
- Use US-hosted open source models
Use it for
- Create documents, slides, and PDFs
- Write and edit software code
- Transcribe voice speech locally in real time
- Automate computer tasks
Companions
Tools that articles about LM Studio recommend using with it, each with its job.
- Cline — Agentic coding in VS Code against LM Studio's local server.
- AnythingLLM — Private RAG over your files, with LM Studio as the engine.
- Open WebUI — ChatGPT-style UI and knowledge bases on top of local models.
- CrewAI — Point CrewAI's agents at the local endpoint.
Companion to
Tools whose articles name LM Studio as a companion, each with its job for them.
Alternatives to LM Studio
- Ollama — Run open models locally or in the cloud with private prompts
- Overview — Learn language models by running hands-on experiments without writing scripts
- llmspy.org — Self-host access to 530+ AI models across 24 providers with built-in tools.
- LLM CLI — It enables command-line interaction with remote APIs and local machine models.
- Maid — Run models locally on-device or connect to remote providers securely.
- Jan — Runs 100 percent offline on your computer.
- Text Generation WebUI — Run local LLMs with multiple backends, multimodal input, and tool calling 100% offline.
- Kelivo — Connect to any model with local-first data storage and multi-platform support.
- LLMStack — Builds AI applications and agents with custom data without writing code.
- MLX LM — Runs LLMs and fine-tuning natively on Apple silicon hardware.
- Z.ai — Free access to GLM, an open-weight model family strong at coding
- LM Arena — Compare anonymous AI models blindly and vote on the best outputs.
All LM Studio alternatives