# BitRun vs Foundry Local

> Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) to BitRun's 37.9 (F) for local inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-15

Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against BitRun's 37.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do local inference.

- BitRun: grade F, 37.9/100, rank #1018 of 1094. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bitrun.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bitrun.json
- Foundry Local: grade C, 60.5/100, rank #545 of 1094. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/foundry-local.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/foundry-local.json
- Best local AI models and assistants: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/local-ai/index.md
- All 204 local ai comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/local-ai/index.md

## Which one, for what

### BitRun (F)

Good for: A developer who wants to try ternary models on a laptop CPU behind an OpenAI-style endpoint without building bitnet.cpp.

Watch for: First released on 12 October 2026. Three pre-release versions in four days, one maintainer and no CI workflow

### Foundry Local (C)

Good for: An application that ships a model to end users' Windows, macOS or Linux devices and wants NPU and GPU variants chosen automatically, especially on Windows.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 38
- Schema & documentation, 53 against 30
- Agent ergonomics, 61 against 40
- Security & auth, 39 against 28
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 59
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 50

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where BitRun loses 3 points for them

Watch for: The local server takes no credential, and its routes include model load and unload and `POST /shutdown`


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | BitRun | Foundry Local | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 38 | 68 | Foundry Local +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 30 | 53 | Foundry Local +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 40 | 61 | Foundry Local +21 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 28 | 39 | Foundry Local +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 59 | 88 | Foundry Local +29 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 50 | 72 | Foundry Local +22 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **37.9 · F** | **60.5 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | BitRun | Foundry Local |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | SDK + MCP |
| Vendor | Abhishek Khanra (IshekKhal on GitHub) | Microsoft |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT for the SDKs and the v2 native runtime. The CLI is closed source under Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Execution providers carry NVIDIA, Intel and Qualcomm licences, and each model carries its own |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-09-29 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 5 stars | 2.6k stars, 105k npm/wk, 47k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**BitRun.** BitRun packages patched llama.cpp builds for ternary models into one download for macOS on Apple silicon, Windows and Linux, with a loopback-only OpenAI-compatible server. It is three days old with three pre-release versions, one maintainer and no CI, and its published power figures come from a fixed formula rather than measurement.

**Foundry Local.** The SDK and its native runtime are MIT, at 2.1.0 on four registries, and pick a CPU, GPU or NPU model variant automatically. The optional local server has no credential, its current routes aren't in the published REST reference, and telemetry is on by default with an opt-out.

## Before you call either

### BitRun

1. Ask the user to install BitRun and run `bitrun pull <tag>` and `bitrun serve <tag>` first. Then call http://127.0.0.1:11435/v1 with any API key string
2. Poll `/health` before the first request. The server loads the model in the background and answers only when ready
3. Use a model tag from the catalogue (bitnet-70m, bonsai-1.7b, falcon3-1b, bitnet-2b, falcon3-3b, bonsai-8b) and keep prompts within its context window
4. Treat the README's energy figures as estimates, and don't report them as measured power
5. Expect small research checkpoints. Check outputs before relying on them for code or facts

### Foundry Local

1. Read the server URL from `manager.urls[0]` or `foundry server status`. The port is dynamic unless the owner sets `web.urls` or `foundry server start --port`
2. Send the model ID that `GET /v1/models` returns, not the alias. The alias resolves to a hardware-specific variant
3. Check `supportsToolCalling` before sending tools. Support differs by variant, and issue #1183 reports Qwen tool calling failing on QNN
4. Set your own request timeout. Inference has no built-in one, and cancellation takes effect only after the current generation step
5. Ask the owner to set `ORT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1` or `disableNonessentialTelemetry` before the manager is created if telemetry must be off

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, BitRun or Foundry Local?

Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against BitRun's 37.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Can an agent call BitRun and Foundry Local without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for BitRun. No hosted endpoint is listed for Foundry Local.

### Are BitRun and Foundry Local open source?

Yes. BitRun is open source (MIT). Foundry Local is open source (MIT for the SDKs and the v2 native runtime. The CLI is closed source under Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Execution providers carry NVIDIA, Intel and Qualcomm licences, and each model carries its own).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-foundry-local.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-foundry-local.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "bitrun", "b": "foundry-local"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare bitrun foundry-local`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bitrun.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/foundry-local.json

## Other comparisons with BitRun or Foundry Local

- [AnythingLLM vs BitRun](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-bitrun.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs Foundry Local](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-foundry-local.md)
- [BitRun vs Docker Model Runner](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-docker-model-runner.md)
- [BitRun vs Core](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-ghost-core.md)
- [BitRun vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-gpt4all.md)
- [BitRun vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-jan.md)
- [BitRun vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-khoj.md)
- [BitRun vs KoboldCpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-koboldcpp.md)
- [BitRun vs Lemonade](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-lemonade.md)
- [BitRun vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-llama-cpp.md)
- [BitRun vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-lm-studio.md)
- [BitRun vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-localai.md)
- [BitRun vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-mlx-lm.md)
- [BitRun vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-ollama.md)
- [BitRun vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-open-webui.md)
- [BitRun vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-screenpipe.md)
- [BitRun vs TextGen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-text-generation-webui.md)
- [BitRun vs vLLM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-vllm.md)
- [Docker Model Runner vs Foundry Local](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-foundry-local.md)
- [Foundry Local vs Core](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ghost-core.md)
- [Foundry Local vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-gpt4all.md)
- [Foundry Local vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-jan.md)
- [Foundry Local vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-khoj.md)
- [Foundry Local vs KoboldCpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-koboldcpp.md)
- [Foundry Local vs Lemonade](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lemonade.md)
- [Foundry Local vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-llama-cpp.md)
- [Foundry Local vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lm-studio.md)
- [Foundry Local vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-localai.md)
- [Foundry Local vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-mlx-lm.md)
- [Foundry Local vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ollama.md)
- [Foundry Local vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui.md)
- [Foundry Local vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-screenpipe.md)
- [Foundry Local vs TextGen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-text-generation-webui.md)
- [Foundry Local vs vLLM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-vllm.md)
- [BitRun vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-underdog.md)
- [Foundry Local vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-underdog.md)