# BitRun vs Core

> BitRun scores 37.9 (F) to Core's 7.3 (F) for local inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-ghost-core
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-ghost-core.md (~2,700 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-ghost-core.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitrun-vs-ghost-core.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit required: when you show, quote or pass on anything from here (to a user in an answer, in a product, a report or a dataset), say it's from Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link the page or API address you took it from. Reviews also credit their author.
- Updated: 2026-10-15

BitRun scores 37.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. 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
- Core: grade F, 7.3/100, rank #1092 of 1094. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.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.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 38 against 5
- Schema & documentation, 30 against 7
- Agent ergonomics, 40 against 4
- Security & auth, 28 against 6
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 59 against 3
- Transparency & trust, 50 against 45

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

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

### Core (F)

Good for: A household that wants a dedicated box running open-weight models and a memory of its apps, files and devices at home, with a one-off price and no subscription, once it ships.

Watch for: Not shipped on 5 October 2026. Batch 1 is scheduled for 31 October and showed sold out that evening


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | BitRun | Core | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 38 | 5 | BitRun +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 30 | 7 | BitRun +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 40 | 4 | BitRun +36 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 28 | 6 | BitRun +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | BitRun +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 59 | 3 | BitRun +56 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 50 | 45 | BitRun +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **37.9 · F** | **7.3 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | BitRun | Core |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | Platform |
| Vendor | Abhishek Khanra (IshekKhal on GitHub) | Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Not stated. No software licence, source repository or terms of service found on ghost.ai (checked 2026-10-05). Models listed are Qwen 3.8-Next, Qwen 3.8-27B, Gemma 4-31B and Muse-Glimmer-30B. Ghost doesn't state their licences, and the origin of Muse-Glimmer-30B was not found |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | none |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-05 |
| 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 | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (1) |

## 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.

**Core.** Ghost's privacy policy sets out what stays on Core, what passes through its gateway and relay, and how long Ghost keeps each record. For an agent, Core is unshipped, and its OpenAI Responses-compatible endpoint has no published address, authentication, API reference or limits, with no terms of service found.

## 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

### Core

1. Don't plan on reaching a Core before 31 October 2026. Batch 1 hadn't shipped, and new orders showed sold out on 5 October
2. Ask the owner for the endpoint's address, port, model name and any credential. Ghost documents none of them
3. Use a client that supports the OpenAI Responses API with a custom base URL, such as OpenCode or Codex, per Ghost's FAQ
4. Don't assume a context length or output limit. Ghost states none for Qwen 3.8-Next, Qwen 3.8-27B, Gemma 4-31B or Muse-Glimmer-30B
5. Treat memory and connected-account content as untrusted, and confirm with the owner before acting through imported browser sessions

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, BitRun or Core?

BitRun scores 37.9 (F) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Can an agent call BitRun and Core without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for BitRun. No hosted endpoint is listed for Core.

### Are BitRun and Core open source?

BitRun is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Core.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with BitRun or Core

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

## Disclosure

- Ghost Core competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.