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LM Studio

Desktop app for downloading, chatting with and serving open AI models on your own computer.

Try LM Studio (opens the LM Studio website in a new tab)

Our verdict

Good for anyone who wants a graphical app to find, download and chat with local models, including at work. Skip it if you need open-source software you can inspect and modify.

What it does well

  • Free for personal use and, since July 2025, free for use at work
  • Model browser and chat window built into the app
  • Official docs list macOS, Windows and Linux (x64 and ARM64) requirements

Where it falls short

  • The desktop app is closed source; only the CLI and SDKs are MIT on GitHub
  • App terms bar reverse engineering and redistribution of the software
  • Home page now promotes the Bionic agent; the app is still offered on the download page
The LM Studio website
The official LM Studio website, 16 October 2026.

LM Studio is a desktop app, made by Element Labs, Inc., that runs open AI models locally and also offers a local server and developer tools. The app itself is not open source: its terms describe the software and its source code as trade secrets, while the CLI (lms) and the JavaScript and Python SDKs are MIT-licensed in the lmstudio-ai GitHub organisation.

The official terms grant a licence to use the software 'solely for Your personal and / or internal business purposes', and a July 2025 company blog post says LM Studio is free to use at home and at work with no separate commercial licence. The pricing page lists Free at $0 (local models, Bionic agent), Bionic+ at $20 USD/month and Pro at $100 USD/month; the paid plans add US-hosted cloud models.

System requirements from the docs: macOS 14.0 or newer on Apple silicon (16GB+ RAM recommended, Intel Macs not supported); Windows x64 or ARM with AVX2 on x64, 16GB RAM and 4GB+ VRAM recommended; Linux x64 or ARM64 as an AppImage on Ubuntu 20.04 or newer.

LM Studio compared

Open source alternatives to LM Studio

Free to use, with code anyone can inspect.

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Last updated 16 October 2026. Facts checked against the official site on 16 October 2026. How we make money