LM Studio vs. Ollama: which local AI runner should you start with?
For most people getting started with local AI, the two main options for software that runs a model are LM Studio and Ollama. LM Studio feels like a normal desktop app — you download it, search for the model, click download, and then you can just chat with it. It's probably one of the most friendly first-time user experiences if you're non-technical. Ollama is a little more builder- or developer-oriented. You run a command like `ollama run gemma4:e4b` and now you have a model running locally with an API your apps can talk to. Start with LM Studio if you want to explore; move to Ollama when you're ready to build something on top of it.
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