Gerbil
Shares rank 18 of 27 local LLM runners by recommenders
Free desktop app for running text, image and video AI models locally, with a simple interface. One critic reported a hard lock-up after the splash screen.
Free desktop app for running text, image and video AI models locally, with a simple interface. One critic reported a hard lock-up after the splash screen.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple UI with less complexity than ComfyUI
“I like that it has image generation without all the complication of ComfyUI”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Gerbil – an open source desktop app for running LLMs locally” “I also prefer its super simple UI”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Gerbil – an open source desktop app for running LLMs locally” Runs and updates many local AI front-ends
“Gerbil will allow you to run text, image and video gen, as well as set up (and keep updated) any of the front-ends”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Gerbil – an open source desktop app for running LLMs locally” “it seems to integrate everything without sacrificing being able to customize it further if need be”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Gerbil – an open source desktop app for running LLMs locally”
Other local LLM runners people recommend
The four most recommended other local LLM runners, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| llama.cpp | 471 | 109 | 81% | 13 | 1 yr4 owners | Approved |
| Ollama | 350 | 247 | 59% | 12 | 1.5 yrs8 owners | — |
| LM Studio | 217 | 74 | 75% | 12 | 3 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| DS4 by antirez | 109 | 20 | 84% | 7 | 1 mo3 owners | Approved |
| GerbilThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“that just triggers a hard lock up after the splash screen”
“Ah, well done! I should not have underestimated you!”
“Make it an Android and iOS app, get it published in the respective stores”
“Cool tools, though, keep it up!”
“Gerbil is good for systems programming.”
“I also prefer its super simple UI”
“I like that it has image generation without all the complication of ComfyUI”
“Gerbil will allow you to run text, image and video gen, as well as set up (and keep updated) any of the front-ends”
“it seems to integrate everything without sacrificing being able to customize it further if need be”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.