# Foundry Local vs Core

> Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do local inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ghost-core
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ghost-core.md (~2,750 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ghost-core.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-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
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do local inference.

- Foundry Local: grade C, 60.5/100, rank #461 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/foundry-local.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/foundry-local.json
- Core: grade F, 7.3/100, rank #842 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.json

## Which one, for what

### 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 5
- Schema & documentation, 53 against 7
- Agent ergonomics, 61 against 4
- Security & auth, 39 against 6
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 3
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 45

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

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

### 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 | Foundry Local | Core | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 5 | Foundry Local +63 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 53 | 7 | Foundry Local +46 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 4 | Foundry Local +57 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 39 | 6 | Foundry Local +33 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | Foundry Local +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 3 | Foundry Local +85 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 45 | Foundry Local +27 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **60.5 · C** | **7.3 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Foundry Local | Core |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | SDK + MCP | Model platform |
| Vendor | Microsoft | 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 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 | 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 | 2026-09-29 | 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 | 2.6k stars, 105k npm/wk, 47k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (1) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**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

### 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

### 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, Foundry Local or Core?

Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Are Foundry Local and Core open source?

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). No open-source release is listed for Core.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Foundry Local or Core

- [AnythingLLM vs Foundry Local](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-foundry-local.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs Core](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.md)
- [Docker Model Runner vs Foundry Local](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-foundry-local.md)
- [Docker Model Runner vs Core](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-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)
- [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)
- [Foundry Local vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-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.