SHSelfHostIndex

LMDeploy vs Text Embeddings Inference

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?
LM LMDeploy Toolkit for compressing and serving large language models VS TE Text Embeddings Inference Fast inference server for text embedding models
FeatureLMDeployText Embeddings Inference
CategoryLocal LLM RunnersLocal LLM Runners
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonRust
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM16,384 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 7,998★ 4,985
First released20232023
ReplacesOpenAI API, Hugging Face Inference EndpointsOpenAI Embeddings API

Why pick each one

Choose LMDeploy if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 8k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
LMDeploy details

Choose Text Embeddings Inference if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (5k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Rust
Text Embeddings Inference details

Frequently asked questions

Is LMDeploy or Text Embeddings Inference better?

Neither is universally better. LMDeploy has the larger community, while Text Embeddings Inference is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are LMDeploy and Text Embeddings Inference free and open-source?

Yes. LMDeploy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Text Embeddings Inference under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run LMDeploy and Text Embeddings Inference with Docker?

LMDeploy: yes. Text Embeddings Inference: yes.

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