LM Studio is a free desktop app for running large language models locally. It has a built-in search for models from Hugging Face in GGUF and MLX format, a chat interface with document attachment (RAG), and a local server that mimics the OpenAI API so other programs can use your local model. It runs fully offline once a model is downloaded.

LM Studio is the easiest way to try the text models listed in this catalog on your own machine, for people who want a polished interface and do not want to touch a terminal. Developers who prefer command line tools may like Ollama better.

No install required - run AI models on the cloud

BitVector Prism is the easiest way to start: pick a model, type a prompt and generate in a clean web app, with nothing to configure. BitVector is also available on Discord and on the web (SpyGlass).

Try BitVector

What you need

Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 13.4 or later (16 GB RAM recommended), Windows 10 or 11 (x64 or ARM) or Linux with a processor supporting AVX2. An NVIDIA or AMD GPU speeds things up and allows larger models; 8 GB VRAM runs 7 to 8 billion parameter models comfortably. Models take 2 to 40 GB each.

How to get and install LM Studio

Download LM Studio from lmstudio.ai for Mac, Windows or Linux and install it.
Open the app and go to Discover (the magnifying glass). Search for a model, for example Llama, Qwen or Gemma.
Pick a quantized version that fits your memory (Q4_K_M is the usual balance; LM Studio marks the ones that fit) and press Download.
Models download into the app's models folder; you can change the folder in My Models if you want them on another drive.

Download only from the official links on this page. Installers found elsewhere may be out of date or tampered with. ModelTrends.ai hosts no files.

No install required - run AI models on the cloud

PirateDiffusion is Telegram only and built for pros: thousands of models, LoRAs and workflows driven by chat commands, with unlimited generation on a fixed price plan.

Try PirateDiffusion

How to use LM Studio

Open the Chat tab, click Select a model at the top and load the model you downloaded.
Type a message and press Enter. Responses stream in; use the sidebar to start new chats or switch models.
Set a system prompt and sampling settings (temperature, context length) in the right-hand panel to shape the behaviour.
Attach PDF or text files to a chat to ask questions about them (RAG), or paste images for vision-capable models.
Open the Developer tab and start the local server to use the model from other apps through an OpenAI-compatible API at http://localhost:1234.
Use My Models to see what is downloaded, delete models you no longer need and check their sizes.

Tips and common problems

If a model loads but answers slowly, choose a smaller quantization or offload fewer layers to the GPU in the model settings.
Set the context length only as long as you need; longer contexts use much more memory.
MLX models are fastest on Apple Silicon; GGUF works everywhere.
Nothing leaves your computer during chat; the only network use is downloading models.

Models you can run in LM Studio

LM Studio runs the open text models listed under Text / LLM in this catalog whenever a GGUF or MLX version exists on Hugging Face, which is the case for nearly all of them.

Text / LLM Models

No install required - run AI models on the cloud

No GPU, no downloads, no Python. These services run the same open source models on their own servers, so you can start generating from a browser, Discord or Telegram in a minute.

Try BitVector

Try PirateDiffusion

Links

These links go to the makers' own sites. ModelTrends.ai is not affiliated with them and does not host any software.

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