# Docker Model Runner vs Lemonade (slim)

> Lemonade scores 63.8 (B) on agent readiness against Docker Model Runner's 57.1 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Docker Model Runner leads on reliability and transparency & trust. Both do local inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-lemonade.md (~2,900 tokens) · this version ~780 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-lemonade.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-lemonade
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

Lemonade scores 63.8 (B) on agent readiness against Docker Model Runner's 57.1 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Docker Model Runner leads on reliability and transparency & trust. Both do local inference.

- Docker Model Runner: C 57.1, rank #559 of 842 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/docker-model-runner.min.md
- Lemonade: B 63.8, rank #336 of 842 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lemonade.min.md
- Docker Model Runner, good for A team that already runs Docker and wants local models served to containers and Compose services through OpenAI-, Anthropic- or Ollama-compatible routes, with models stored as OCI artefacts. Ahead on Reliability, 85 against 75; Transparency & trust, 73 against 64. Also No key needed to call it.
- Lemonade, good for An owner with AMD hardware (Ryzen AI NPUs, Radeon or Strix Halo) who wants one local server for chat, speech and images that existing OpenAI, Anthropic or Ollama clients can call, and for MCP clients that want local models as tools. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 70 against 49; Agent ergonomics, 70 against 58; Maintenance & community, 76 against 55. Also No incidents deducted, where Docker Model Runner loses 3 points for them.

| Category | Docker Model Runner | Lemonade |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 85 | 75 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 49 | 70 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 58 | 70 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 40 | 36 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 55 | 76 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 73 | 64 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Docker Model Runner | Lemonade |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Docker, Inc. | AMD and the Lemonade community |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (server, CLI plugin and `dmr` binary). Docker Desktop, which bundles it, is closed software under Docker's subscription agreement, and each model carries its own licence | Apache 2.0. Each backend (llama.cpp, whisper.cpp, stable-diffusion.cpp, FastFlowLM and others) is downloaded separately under its own licence |
| Tools exposed | none | 6 |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-08-12 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-26 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-26 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 656 stars | 5.8k stars |