# BitRun vs KoboldCpp

> KoboldCpp 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

KoboldCpp scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against BitRun's 37.9 (F), and leads in 5 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
- KoboldCpp: grade C, 60.5/100, rank #546 of 1094. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/koboldcpp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/koboldcpp.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

### KoboldCpp (C)

Good for: An owner who wants text, image, speech and music models behind one executable with a writing and roleplay interface, and clients that speak the KoboldAI, OpenAI, Ollama or Anthropic formats.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 38
- Schema & documentation, 68 against 30
- Agent ergonomics, 63 against 40
- Security & auth, 38 against 28
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 59

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

Watch for: With no `--host` the server accepts connections on all routable interfaces, and no password is set by default


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | BitRun | KoboldCpp | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 38 | 68 | KoboldCpp +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 30 | 68 | KoboldCpp +38 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 40 | 63 | KoboldCpp +23 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 28 | 38 | KoboldCpp +10 |
| 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 | 82 | KoboldCpp +23 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 50 | 49 | BitRun +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **37.9 · F** | **60.5 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | BitRun | KoboldCpp |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Abhishek Khanra (IshekKhal on GitHub) | LostRuins (Concedo) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | AGPL-3.0 for KoboldCpp and KoboldAI Lite. The bundled GGML, llama.cpp and stable-diffusion.cpp code stays under MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-09-27 |
| 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 | 12k stars |

## 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.

**KoboldCpp.** One file runs text, image, speech and music models behind a published OpenAPI 3.0.3 document, with eight releases in 90 days. The server listens on every interface with no password by default, and `--password` leaves the image routes open.

## 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

### KoboldCpp

1. Start with `--host 127.0.0.1` and `--password`. The default listens on every interface with no key
2. Send the password as `Authorization: Bearer <password>`. It is not read from the query string
3. Treat 503 as both busy and rate limited. The server never sends 429 or `Retry-After`, and the wait in seconds is in `detail.msg`
4. Pass `max_length` or `max_tokens`. The default is 2,048 tokens unless `--defaultgenamt` changes it
5. Send a `genkey` with each generation so `/api/extra/generate/check` and `/api/extra/abort` act on your request and not another caller's

## Questions

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

KoboldCpp scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against BitRun's 37.9 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Do BitRun and KoboldCpp need an API key?

Neither needs a key.

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

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

### Are BitRun and KoboldCpp open source?

Yes. BitRun is open source (MIT). KoboldCpp is open source (AGPL-3.0 for KoboldCpp and KoboldAI Lite. The bundled GGML, llama.cpp and stable-diffusion.cpp code stays under MIT).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with BitRun or KoboldCpp

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