Guidance vs SGLang
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Guidance | SGLang |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Jupyter Notebook | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 16,384 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,776 | ★ 36,383 |
| First released | 2023 | 2024 |
| Replaces | OpenAI API | OpenAI API |
What are Guidance and SGLang?
Guidance
Guidance is a programming paradigm from Microsoft for steering language model output with interleaved generation, control flow, and constraints. It can run against locally hosted models to produce reliable structured results.
- Interleaved generation control
- Token healing
- Regex and grammar constraints
- Works with local models
SGLang
SGLang is a high-performance serving framework for large language and vision-language models. It features a fast runtime with RadixAttention and a flexible programming language for complex LLM applications.
- RadixAttention caching
- Structured generation
- OpenAI-compatible server
- Multi-GPU scaling
Guidance vs SGLang: key differences
Guidance is written in Jupyter Notebook, while SGLang is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Guidance versus Apache-2.0 for SGLang. Guidance is the lighter option, starting around 8,192 MB of RAM against 16,384 MB for SGLang. SGLang lists first-class Docker deployment; Guidance does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Guidance if…
- Precise output control
- Constrained structured generation
- Works with local models
Watch out for
- Paradigm takes learning
- API models limit features
Choose SGLang if…
- Very high throughput
- RadixAttention prefix caching
- Vision model support
Watch out for
- Serious GPU required
- Complex tuning options
Frequently asked questions
Is Guidance or SGLang better?
Neither is universally better. SGLang has the larger community, while Guidance is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Guidance and SGLang free and open-source?
Yes. Guidance is licensed under MIT and SGLang under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Guidance and SGLang with Docker?
Guidance: check the project docs for container support. SGLang: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Guidance or SGLang?
Guidance has the smaller minimum footprint at 8,192 MB of RAM, compared to about 16,384 MB for SGLang. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.