Ollama at a glance
Checked 15 Oct 2026Ollama is a runner, not a full chat app: it downloads open models and serves them through a CLI chat and a local API that front-ends like Open WebUI, LibreChat and LobeHub connect to. Installers exist for macOS 14+, Windows 10 22H2+ and Linux, plus a Docker image. The runner is MIT, but each model has its own licence, so check the model page before commercial use. Local use is free and unlimited; optional paid Ollama Cloud plans (Pro $20/month) run cloud models. Models can be tens to hundreds of GB on disk.
RepoQuarry. “Ollama.” Checked 15 Oct 2026. https://repoquarry.dev/projects/ollamaHow much of ChatGPT Plus does it replace?
1 of 3 jobs. Terminal chat plus a local API for other apps; answer quality depends on the model you run. Local models are generally less capable than paid frontier models.
For chat with your documents, web search answers, see other ChatGPT Plus alternatives. You may also need to build an interface, an API server and hosting yourself.
Facts, with sources
Every answer links to where we found it. We read the documentation; we did not install it.
Start building with open models. Access the latest releases locally or in the cloud with complete privacy.github.com · ollama#readme ↗ 1d ago
Get up and running with Kimi, GLM, MiniMax, DeepSeek, gpt-oss, Qwen, Gemma and other models.github.com · ollama#readme ↗ 1d ago
Running models on your own hardware is always unlimited.ollama.com · pricing ↗ 1d ago
macOS: "Apple M series (CPU and GPU support) or x86 (CPU only)"; models "can be tens to hundreds of GB in size". Windows docs: "at least 4GB of space for the binary install", NVIDIA 551.61+ drivers or AMD ROCm v7 for GPU.docs.ollama.com · macos ↗ 1d ago
Windows 10 22H2 or newer, Home or Prodocs.ollama.com · windows ↗ 1d ago
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | shgithub.com · ollama#download ↗ 1d ago