LM Studio (GUI Local LLM)
LM Studio is the best GUI for discovering and running GGUF models on MacOS, Windows, and Linux.
🚀 Key Features (2026 Update)
- Built-in Model Browser: Search and download models directly from Hugging Face.
- Hardware Acceleration: Automatic GPU detection and management (CUDA / MPS).
- In-App Inference: Chat with models using an integrated desktop UI.
- OpenAI Compatible: Start a local server with a single click.
🛠 Local Setup
- Download from LM Studio.
- Open the app and search for “Llama 3.3” or “Gemma 3”.
- Download a Q4_K_M (4-bit) quantization for best performance.
🗝 API Server Usage (Port 1234)
curl http://localhost:1234/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "your-model-id",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain quantum physics."}]
}'