{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "gpt4all", "name": "GPT4All", "vendor": "Nomic, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.nomic.ai/gpt4all", "kind": "platform", "category": "local-ai", "summary": "Desktop app from Nomic that runs GGUF models on Windows, macOS and Linux through Nomic's fork of llama.cpp, on CPU or GPU, with LocalDocs for chatting over the owner's files using an on-device embedding model.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gpt4all", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gpt4all.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gpt4all.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gpt4all.json", "repo": "https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all", "license": "MIT (app, backend and bindings). Models downloaded through the app carry their own licences", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "gpt4all" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "The local API server has no authentication. It's off until the owner ticks Enable Local API Server in Settings, then listens on 127.0.0.1:4891 over plain HTTP and sends `Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *` on every response. Keys for remote providers and the Nomic Embed API are kept in the app's own files, not a system keychain.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and MIT with nothing to buy. Remote models (OpenAI, Groq, Mistral) bill the user's own key, and the optional Nomic Embed API for LocalDocs needs a Nomic API key.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-03).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 77400, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": 10957, "asOf": "2026-10-03" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.gpt4all.io", "capabilities": [ "inference.local", "inference.open-weights", "memory.search", "embed.text" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-card", "no-key", "openai-compatible", "open-weights", "python" ], "lastRelease": "2025-02-24", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 36.2, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 825, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 17, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 41, "maintenance": 6, "payments": 60, "reliability": 56, "schema": 40, "security": 28, "transparency": 56 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "high", "date": "2026-10-03" }, "negative": -6, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-06-26. Two security reports filed as public issues, unanswered, with no release since. #3681, the local API server sends `Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *` on every response (gpt4all-chat/src/server.cpp line 614) and has no authentication, so a web page open in the user's browser can call /v1/chat/completions while the server is on and read the answers, including LocalDocs snippets from the owner's files. #3682, the model catalogue and the fallback model download use plain http://gpt4all.io, and the app turns TLS certificate checks off on nine request sites. A host-header fix has sat unmerged on the mitigate-dns-rebind branch since 27 May 2025. Unfixed, with the server off by default, -6. https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/issues/3681; https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/issues/3682" ], "verdict": "MIT, with installers for Windows x64 and ARM64, macOS 12.6 or later and Linux, and published minimum and recommended hardware. No release since 24 February 2025 and no commit to main since 27 May 2025.", "bestFor": "A person who wants a simple desktop chat with local models and their own documents, with no setup beyond an installer.", "strengths": [ "MIT, with installers for Windows x64 and ARM64, macOS 12.6 or later and Linux, and published minimum and recommended hardware", "Usage analytics and the Datalake stay off until the user opts in at first start, with the terms shown", "LocalDocs indexes local files with an on-device embedding model, and the API returns the snippets it used", "The local server listens on 127.0.0.1 only and refuses unsupported OpenAI parameters by name", "A dated changelog per version in Keep a Changelog form" ], "weaknesses": [ "No release since 24 February 2025 and no commit to main since 27 May 2025", "The local server has no authentication and sends `Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *`, so a web page can call it while it's on", "The model catalogue and fallback downloads use plain HTTP, and nine request sites turn TLS certificate checks off", "No streaming, tool calling or structured output on the API", "No SECURITY.md or security.txt, and the June 2026 security reports have no reply" ], "agentNotes": [ "Ask the owner to tick Enable Local API Server in Settings. Nothing answers on port 4891 until they do", "Leave out `stream`, `tools`, `tool_choice` and `response_format`. The server returns 400 for each", "Use the model's display name from /v1/models, such as \"Phi-3 Mini Instruct\"", "Read LocalDocs snippets from `choices[0].references`. Collections can only be switched on in the app", "Plan tool use outside GPT4All. Its API can't call tools" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 1, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "high", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 36.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 41, "maintenance": 6, "payments": 60, "reliability": 56, "schema": 40, "security": 28, "transparency": 54 }, "provenanceScore": 58 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install gpt4all # Python SDK. The desktop app, which runs the API server, installs from https://gpt4all.io/installers/", "http": "curl -X POST http://localhost:4891/v1/chat/completions -d '{\n \"model\": \"Phi-3 Mini Instruct\",\n \"messages\": [{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"Who is Lionel Messi?\"}],\n \"max_tokens\": 50,\n \"temperature\": 0.28\n}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.local", "tool": "https://letme.dev/gpt4all" }, "sameCompany": [ "nomic-embed" ], "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Nomic, Inc.", "domain": "nomic.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "https://www.nomic.ai/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/blob/main/gpt4all-chat/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-03", "notes": [ "`LICENSE.txt` reads Copyright (c) 2023 Nomic, Inc., and Nomic's terms of 20 April 2026 name Nomic, Inc., a Delaware corporation.", "Nomic's terms at nomic.ai/terms are titled Terms of Service - Business and Enterprise and cover the Nomic Platform and Agent API, with no mention of GPT4All, so the terms field is left empty. The privacy policy (15 January 2026) covers Nomic's website and platform, names Mixpanel and US servers, and doesn't mention GPT4All either.", "nomic.ai/.well-known/security.txt returns 404, and the repository has no SECURITY.md.", "Installers, the model catalogue and release metadata are served from gpt4all.io, and docs from docs.gpt4all.io. There's no hosted endpoint, and the API server runs on the owner's machine." ], "score": 58 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gpt4all.json", "live": { "slug": "gpt4all", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "nomic-ai/gpt4all", "version": "v3.10.0", "released": "2025-02-25", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:14:52.035953201Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "gpt4all", "version": "2.8.2", "released": "2024-08-14", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:14:51.848144818Z" } ], "githubStars": 77377, "pypiWeekly": 10592, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://nomic.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:55.419973485Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "nomic.ai", "registered": "2021-10-22", "source": "https://rdap.identitydigital.services/rdap/domain/nomic.ai", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:09:16.171290345Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/main/gpt4all-chat/CHANGELOG.md", "kind": "changelog", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:24:29.725233314Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "5e4e4d883d6e" }, { "url": "https://www.nomic.ai/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:29:20.057365648Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-06T16:16:07.873015295Z", "fingerprint": "221b22e3ab3c" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T18:29:20.057365648Z" } }, "answer": "MLX LM scores 52.2 (D) on agent readiness against GPT4All's 36.2 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.", "b": { "slug": "mlx-lm", "name": "MLX LM", "vendor": "Apple Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://opensource.apple.com/projects/mlx/", "kind": "http-api", "category": "local-ai", "summary": "Open-source Python package and command-line tools from Apple's MLX team for running, quantising and fine-tuning language models on Apple silicon. `mlx_lm.server` exposes a local HTTP API modelled on OpenAI's chat completions.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mlx-lm", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mlx-lm.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mlx-lm.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mlx-lm.json", "repo": "https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-lm", "license": "MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "mlx-lm" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No credential, and no option to add one. `mlx_lm.server` binds 127.0.0.1:8080 by default, and `--allowed-origins` defaults to `*`, so any origin's requests are answered. Access control is left to the network or a proxy in front (https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-lm/blob/main/mlx_lm/SERVER.md).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under MIT, with no account, key or card. Nothing is sold. The owner pays for the hardware and electricity.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 7300, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": 139915, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-lm/blob/main/mlx_lm/SERVER.md", "capabilities": [ "inference.local", "inference.open-weights" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "self-hosted", "free", "no-card", "openai-compatible", "python", "pre-1.0", "no-auth", "no-telemetry" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 52.2, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 657, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 12, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 54, "maintenance": 61, "payments": 60, "reliability": 66, "schema": 37, "security": 32, "transparency": 66 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "MIT, with no telemetry found in the source, and the tests passed on the last eight pushes to main. `mlx_lm.server` has no API key option, answers any origin by default and loads whichever model a request names, and its own docs say it is not recommended for production.", "bestFor": "An owner with an Apple silicon Mac who wants MLX-format models, local fine-tuning and quantisation from Python or the command line, with a simple local chat completions server.", "strengths": [ "MIT, with no telemetry, analytics or update check found in the source", "Installs from PyPI (`mlx-lm` 0.32.0, Python 3.11 or later) and conda-forge, with releases published to PyPI by trusted publishing from a GitHub workflow", "The Build and Test workflow passed on the last eight pushes to main, with 21 test files run on a macOS runner", "`mlx_lm.server` binds 127.0.0.1:8080 by default, caps output at 512 tokens unless told otherwise and validates field types and ranges with a 400", "127 commits from 82 authors on main in the 90 days to 8 October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "`mlx_lm.server` has no API key or other credential option, and `--allowed-origins` defaults to `*`", "A request's `model` and `adapters` fields make the server download or load any Hugging Face repository or local path, with no allow-list (open issue #1892)", "The docs and a start-up warning say the server is not recommended for production because it has only basic security checks", "No OpenAPI file or llms.txt, and `SERVER.md` leaves out `tools`, `seed`, `/health` and the error responses", "One PyPI release in 90 days (0.32.0 on 1 October 2026, the first since 0.31.3 on 22 April), and the version is still 0.x" ], "agentNotes": [ "Keep `mlx_lm.server` on 127.0.0.1 and pass `--allowed-origins` with the origins you trust. There is no API key, and the default answers every origin", "Treat any caller as able to load any model. The `model` and `adapters` request fields accept any Hugging Face repository or local path", "Send `max_tokens` or `max_completion_tokens` when you need more than 512 tokens, the server default", "Read errors as `{\"error\": \"\u003ctext\u003e\"}` with 400 for a bad field and 404 for a model that failed to load. They are not OpenAI error objects", "Poll `GET /health` before the first request. It answers 503 with `unavailable` when the generation thread has stopped" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 52.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 54, "maintenance": 61, "payments": 60, "reliability": 66, "schema": 37, "security": 32, "transparency": 65 }, "provenanceScore": 67 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install mlx-lm\nmlx_lm.server --model mlx-community/Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.3-4bit # listens on 127.0.0.1:8080", "http": "curl localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\n \"messages\": [{\"role\": \"user\", \"content\": \"Say this is a test!\"}],\n \"temperature\": 0.7\n }'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.local", "tool": "https://letme.dev/mlx-lm" }, "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Apple Inc.", "domain": "apple.com", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-lm/releases", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The `LICENSE` file reads Copyright 2023 Apple Inc., and the package author on PyPI is MLX Contributors at a group.apple.com address. The repository sits in GitHub's ml-explore organisation and has no website of its own.", "opensource.apple.com/projects/mlx describes the MLX framework and does not name MLX LM. Its footer links Apple's website terms and general privacy policy, which do not govern this software, so terms and privacy are left empty.", "www.apple.com/.well-known/security.txt is valid until 6 October 2027 and is Apple's corporate file. The repository's own policy takes reports through GitHub private vulnerability reporting.", "There is no shared hosted endpoint. The server runs on the owner's machine." ], "score": 67 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mlx-lm.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Model platform", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Nomic, Inc.", "b": "Apple Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT (app, backend and bindings). Models downloaded through the app carry their own licences", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2025-02-24", "b": "2026-10-01", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-01-15", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "77k stars, 11k PyPI/wk", "b": "7.3k stars, 140k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "1/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "MLX LM scores 52.2 (D) on agent readiness against GPT4All's 36.2 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, GPT4All or MLX LM?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for GPT4All. No hosted endpoint is listed for MLX LM.", "question": "Can an agent call GPT4All and MLX LM without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Yes. GPT4All is open source (MIT (app, backend and bindings). Models downloaded through the app carry their own licences). MLX LM is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are GPT4All and MLX LM open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "A person who wants a simple desktop chat with local models and their own documents, with no setup beyond an installer.", "slug": "gpt4all", "watchFor": "No release since 24 February 2025 and no commit to main since 27 May 2025" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 66 against 56", "Agent ergonomics, 54 against 41", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 61 against 6", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 66 against 56" ], "also": [ "No incidents deducted, where GPT4All loses 6 points for them" ], "goodFor": "An owner with an Apple silicon Mac who wants MLX-format models, local fine-tuning and quantisation from Python or the command line, with a simple local chat completions server.", "slug": "mlx-lm", "watchFor": "`mlx_lm.server` has no API key or other credential option, and `--allowed-origins` defaults to `*`" } ], "job": { "capability": "inference.local", "name": "Local inference" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-gpt4all.json", "title": "AnythingLLM vs GPT4All", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-gpt4all" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "AnythingLLM vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-gpt4all.json", "title": "Docker Model Runner vs GPT4All", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-gpt4all" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "Docker Model Runner vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-gpt4all.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs GPT4All", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-gpt4all" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all.json", "title": "Core vs GPT4All", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "Core vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-jan.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Jan", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-jan" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-khoj.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Khoj", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-khoj" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-koboldcpp.json", "title": "GPT4All vs KoboldCpp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-koboldcpp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-lemonade.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Lemonade", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-lemonade" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-llama-cpp.json", "title": "GPT4All vs llama.cpp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-llama-cpp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-lm-studio.json", "title": "GPT4All vs LM Studio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-lm-studio" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-localai.json", "title": "GPT4All vs LocalAI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-localai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-ollama.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Ollama", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-ollama" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-screenpipe.json", "title": "GPT4All vs screenpipe", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-screenpipe" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-text-generation-webui.json", "title": "GPT4All vs TextGen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-text-generation-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "Jan vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/khoj-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "Khoj vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/khoj-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/koboldcpp-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "KoboldCpp vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/koboldcpp-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lemonade-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "Lemonade vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lemonade-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "llama.cpp vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "LM Studio vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "LocalAI vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-ollama.json", "title": "MLX LM vs Ollama", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-ollama" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "MLX LM vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-screenpipe.json", "title": "MLX LM vs screenpipe", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-screenpipe" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-text-generation-webui.json", "title": "MLX LM vs TextGen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-text-generation-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-underdog.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-underdog.json", "title": "MLX LM vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-underdog" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-localghost.json", "title": "GPT4All vs LocalGhost", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-localghost" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 10, "edge": "mlx-lm", "gpt4all": 56, "key": "reliability", "mlx-lm": 66, "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 3, "edge": "gpt4all", "gpt4all": 40, "key": "schema", "mlx-lm": 37, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "mlx-lm", "gpt4all": 41, "key": "ergonomics", "mlx-lm": 54, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 4, "edge": "mlx-lm", "gpt4all": 28, "key": "security", "mlx-lm": 32, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "gpt4all": 60, "key": "payments", "mlx-lm": 60, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 55, "edge": "mlx-lm", "gpt4all": 6, "key": "maintenance", "mlx-lm": 61, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "mlx-lm", "gpt4all": 56, "key": "transparency", "mlx-lm": 66, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "MLX LM scores 52.2 (D) on agent readiness against GPT4All's 36.2 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do local inference.", "verdicts": { "gpt4all": "MIT, with installers for Windows x64 and ARM64, macOS 12.6 or later and Linux, and published minimum and recommended hardware. No release since 24 February 2025 and no commit to main since 27 May 2025.", "mlx-lm": "MIT, with no telemetry found in the source, and the tests passed on the last eight pushes to main. `mlx_lm.server` has no API key option, answers any origin by default and loads whichever model a request names, and its own docs say it is not recommended for production." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm.min.md" }, "markdown": "MLX LM scores 52.2 (D) on agent readiness against GPT4All's 36.2 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do local inference.\n\n- GPT4All: grade F, 36.2/100, rank #825 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gpt4all.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gpt4all.json\n- MLX LM: grade D, 52.2/100, rank #657 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mlx-lm.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mlx-lm.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### GPT4All (F)\n\nGood for: A person who wants a simple desktop chat with local models and their own documents, with no setup beyond an installer.\n\nWatch for: No release since 24 February 2025 and no commit to main since 27 May 2025\n\n### MLX LM (D)\n\nGood for: An owner with an Apple silicon Mac who wants MLX-format models, local fine-tuning and quantisation from Python or the command line, with a simple local chat completions server.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 66 against 56\n- Agent ergonomics, 54 against 41\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 61 against 6\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 66 against 56\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No incidents deducted, where GPT4All loses 6 points for them\n\nWatch for: `mlx_lm.server` has no API key or other credential option, and `--allowed-origins` defaults to `*`\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | GPT4All | MLX LM | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 56 | 66 | MLX LM +10 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 40 | 37 | GPT4All +3 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 41 | 54 | MLX LM +13 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 28 | 32 | MLX LM +4 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 6 | 61 | MLX LM +55 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 56 | 66 | MLX LM +10 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **36.2 · F** | **52.2 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | GPT4All | MLX LM |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model platform | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Nomic, Inc. | Apple Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | None | None |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT (app, backend and bindings). Models downloaded through the app carry their own licences | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | no |\n| Last release | 2025-02-24 | 2026-10-01 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-01-15 | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | |\n| Popularity | 77k stars, 11k PyPI/wk | 7.3k stars, 140k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 1/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**GPT4All.** MIT, with installers for Windows x64 and ARM64, macOS 12.6 or later and Linux, and published minimum and recommended hardware. No release since 24 February 2025 and no commit to main since 27 May 2025.\n\n**MLX LM.** MIT, with no telemetry found in the source, and the tests passed on the last eight pushes to main. `mlx_lm.server` has no API key option, answers any origin by default and loads whichever model a request names, and its own docs say it is not recommended for production.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### GPT4All\n\n1. Ask the owner to tick Enable Local API Server in Settings. Nothing answers on port 4891 until they do\n2. Leave out `stream`, `tools`, `tool_choice` and `response_format`. The server returns 400 for each\n3. Use the model's display name from /v1/models, such as \"Phi-3 Mini Instruct\"\n4. Read LocalDocs snippets from `choices[0].references`. Collections can only be switched on in the app\n5. Plan tool use outside GPT4All. Its API can't call tools\n\n### MLX LM\n\n1. Keep `mlx_lm.server` on 127.0.0.1 and pass `--allowed-origins` with the origins you trust. There is no API key, and the default answers every origin\n2. Treat any caller as able to load any model. The `model` and `adapters` request fields accept any Hugging Face repository or local path\n3. Send `max_tokens` or `max_completion_tokens` when you need more than 512 tokens, the server default\n4. Read errors as `{\"error\": \"\u003ctext\u003e\"}` with 400 for a bad field and 404 for a model that failed to load. They are not OpenAI error objects\n5. Poll `GET /health` before the first request. It answers 503 with `unavailable` when the generation thread has stopped\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, GPT4All or MLX LM?\n\nMLX LM scores 52.2 (D) on agent readiness against GPT4All's 36.2 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.\n\n### Can an agent call GPT4All and MLX LM without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for GPT4All. No hosted endpoint is listed for MLX LM.\n\n### Are GPT4All and MLX LM open source?\n\nYes. GPT4All is open source (MIT (app, backend and bindings). Models downloaded through the app carry their own licences). MLX LM is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"gpt4all\", \"b\": \"mlx-lm\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare gpt4all mlx-lm`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gpt4all.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mlx-lm.json\n\n## Other comparisons with GPT4All or MLX LM\n\n- [AnythingLLM vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-gpt4all.md)\n- [AnythingLLM vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [Docker Model Runner vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-gpt4all.md)\n- [Docker Model Runner vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-gpt4all.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [Core vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all.md)\n- [Core vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-jan.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-khoj.md)\n- [GPT4All vs KoboldCpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-koboldcpp.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Lemonade](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-lemonade.md)\n- [GPT4All vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-llama-cpp.md)\n- [GPT4All vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-lm-studio.md)\n- [GPT4All vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-localai.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-ollama.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [GPT4All vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-screenpipe.md)\n- [GPT4All vs TextGen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-text-generation-webui.md)\n- [Jan vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [Khoj vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/khoj-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [KoboldCpp vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/koboldcpp-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [Lemonade vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lemonade-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [llama.cpp vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [LM Studio vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [LocalAI vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [MLX LM vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-ollama.md)\n- [MLX LM vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [MLX LM vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-screenpipe.md)\n- [MLX LM vs TextGen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-text-generation-webui.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-underdog.md)\n- [MLX LM vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-underdog.md)\n- [GPT4All vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-localghost.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "GPT4All vs MLX LM", "url": "" } ], "description": "MLX LM scores 52.2 (D) on agent readiness against GPT4All's 36.2 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do local inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "GPT4All F 36.2", "MLX LM D 52.2", "scores" ], "h1": "GPT4All vs MLX LM", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm.png", "path": "/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "GPT4All vs MLX LM for AI agents, F 36.2 vs D 52.2 | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-mlx-lm" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2350, "slim": 530 }, "version": 1 }