# Core vs TextGen

> TextGen scores 45.1 (E) 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/ghost-core-vs-text-generation-webui
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-text-generation-webui.md (~2,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-text-generation-webui.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-text-generation-webui.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

TextGen scores 45.1 (E) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do local inference.

- 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
- TextGen: grade E, 45.1/100, rank #775 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/text-generation-webui.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/text-generation-webui.json

## Which one, for what

### 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

### TextGen (E)

Good for: A person who wants one app for several backends (llama.cpp, ExLlamaV3, Transformers) with an OpenAI and Anthropic-compatible endpoint, LoRA training and image generation.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 51 against 5
- Schema & documentation, 61 against 7
- Agent ergonomics, 50 against 4
- Security & auth, 40 against 6
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 24 against 3

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

Watch for: No release since v4.9 on 20 May 2026 and no code commit on `main` or `dev` since 31 May 2026


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Core | TextGen | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 5 | 51 | TextGen +46 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 7 | 61 | TextGen +54 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 4 | 50 | TextGen +46 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 6 | 40 | TextGen +34 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 60 | TextGen +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 3 | 24 | TextGen +21 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 49 | TextGen +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **7.3 · F** | **45.1 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Core | TextGen |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model platform | Model platform |
| Vendor | Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.) | oobabooga |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | 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 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | none | 2026-05-20 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-05 | 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 | none | 48k stars |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (1) | none |

## Verdicts

**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.

**TextGen.** AGPL-3.0 with no telemetry, and a local API on 127.0.0.1:5000 that checks the Host header, limits CORS to localhost and separates an admin key from the caller's key. No release since v4.9 on 20 May 2026, no code commits since 31 May, no test suite, and ten security advisories in the year, all fixed.

## Before you call either

### 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

### TextGen

1. Ask the owner to launch with `--api`. Nothing listens on port 5000 without it, and a model must be loaded first
2. Call `http://127.0.0.1:5000/v1`. Any Host header other than localhost or 127.0.0.1 gets 400 `Invalid host header` unless `--listen` is set
3. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer` on OpenAI routes and as `x-api-key` on `/v1/messages`. Model loading needs the admin key
4. Read `http://127.0.0.1:5000/docs` or `modules/api/typing.py` for parameters. `max_tokens` defaults to 512 on chat completions
5. Run tool calls yourself. The API returns `finish_reason: "tool_calls"` and executes nothing on the server
6. Use the repository name `oobabooga/textgen`. The old `text-generation-webui` URL redirects

## Questions

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

TextGen scores 45.1 (E) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Are Core and TextGen open source?

No open-source release is listed for Core. TextGen is open source (AGPL-3.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Core or TextGen

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