What it is
LM Studio is a desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux that finds, downloads and runs open models on your computer, using llama.cpp and Apple's MLX under the hood. It has a chat interface and a local API server, plus a CLI and a headless daemon, llmster, for servers. In 2026 the company added LM Studio Bionic, an agent for documents, coding and computer control that runs local models or optional US-hosted cloud models.
Running models locally is free. Bionic+ at $20 a month adds hosted open models such as Kimi K3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash, with zero data retention, plus web search. The app is free to use but not open source, and how fast models run depends on your machine's memory and GPU.
Best for
- Trying local models through a point-and-click app
- Serving a local model to other apps through an API
- Mac users who want MLX-optimized models