vLLM
vLLM is aimed at serving rather than casual local use. It keeps GPUs busy with continuous batching and efficient memory management, exposes an OpenAI-compatible API, and supports a wide range of models and hardware. If Ollama is how you try a model, vLLM is often how you serve it to a team.
Strengths
- High throughput and concurrency, ideal for multi-user serving
- Broad model and hardware coverage
- OpenAI-compatible API, so a drop-in for many applications
Weaknesses
- Heavier to set up and operate than a desktop app like Ollama
- Overkill for a single user on one machine
- Gets the most from data-centre GPUs, and needs a GPU to be worthwhile
At a glance
- Licence
- Apache 2.0
- Pricing
- Free
- Platforms
- Linux, Docker
- GPU required
- Yes
Links
Works with
Entry last verified 30 July 2026.