KoboldCpp
Shares rank 23 of 27 local LLM runners by recommenders
Free local runner for text and image models in one executable, valued for minimal dependencies and easy use.
Free local runner for text and image models in one executable, valued for minimal dependencies and easy use.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Self-contained, minimal-dependency C++ design
“The dev has a specific philosophy about things (minimal or no dependencies, no installers, no logs, don't do anything to user's system they didn't ask for explicitly) that I find particularly agreeable.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Stop Using Ollama” “mainly because it is written in C++ and largely self-contained”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Vibe Coding Killed Cursor” Easy to use, one executable
“Model search and download, one executable to run, UI, OpenAI API endpoint”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Qwen-Image-2.0: Professional infographics, exquisite photorealism” “That's pretty easy to use.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Stop Using Ollama” Image generation support
“Koboldcpp supports image generation, but you will have to wait for the next release for Krea2 support.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Krea 2 Technical Report” “Rolling build of Koboldcpp now supports Krea2”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Krea 2 Technical Report” Ecosystem with KoboldLite and UI
“I'm liking the koboldcpp "ecosystem", including koboldlite; basically it's letting me try a little of everything”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Hob - Open-source, on device alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT” “Model search and download, one executable to run, UI, OpenAI API endpoint”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Qwen-Image-2.0: Professional infographics, exquisite photorealism”
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 |
| KoboldCppThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 9 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'm liking the koboldcpp "ecosystem", including koboldlite; basically it's letting me try a little of everything”
“I'm liking much more than Ollama”
“Rolling build of Koboldcpp now supports Krea2”
“Koboldcpp supports image generation, but you will have to wait for the next release for Krea2 support.”
“The dev has a specific philosophy about things (minimal or no dependencies, no installers, no logs, don't do anything to user's system they didn't ask for explicitly) that I find particularly agreeable.”
“That's pretty easy to use.”
“All of those options were either too slow, or didnt work for me”
“Just yesterday i ran Devstral Small 2 under koboldcpp”
“Model search and download, one executable to run, UI, OpenAI API endpoint”
“mainly because it is written in C++ and largely self-contained”
“Powerful local tool with strong privacy, but no productivity layer.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.