SHSelfHostIndex

llamafile vs One API

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted local llm runners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
LL llamafile Distribute and run LLMs with a single executable file VS ON One API Unified OpenAI-compatible gateway for many LLM providers
FeaturellamafileOne API
CategoryLocal LLM RunnersLocal LLM Runners
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageC++JavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM8,192 MB256 MB
Deploymentbinarydocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 25,512★ 36,253
First released20232023
ReplacesOpenAI API, ChatGPTOpenAI API, OpenRouter

Why pick each one

Choose llamafile if…

  • Extremely portable
  • Fast startup
llamafile details

Choose One API if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 36.3k GitHub stars
  • Written in JavaScript
One API details

Frequently asked questions

Is llamafile or One API better?

Neither is universally better. One API has the larger community, while llamafile is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are llamafile and One API free and open-source?

Yes. llamafile is licensed under Apache-2.0 and One API under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run llamafile and One API with Docker?

llamafile: check the project docs for container support. One API: yes.

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