# llama.cpp vs TextGen

> llama.cpp scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against TextGen's 45.1 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. TextGen leads on schema & documentation. Both do local inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-text-generation-webui
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-text-generation-webui.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-text-generation-webui.min.md (~530 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-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

llama.cpp scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against TextGen's 45.1 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. TextGen leads on schema & documentation. Both do local inference.

- llama.cpp: grade C, 60.2/100, rank #476 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/llama-cpp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/llama-cpp.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

### llama.cpp (C)

Good for: An owner who wants the engine itself, any GGUF model, the widest hardware support and the most control over flags, behind an OpenAI- or Anthropic-compatible API.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 64 against 51
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 50
- Security & auth, 52 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 24
- Transparency & trust, 60 against 49

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: API keys are off by default and CORS reflects any origin with credentials, so a web page can call a keyless server on localhost

### 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:
- Schema & documentation, 61 against 47

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 | llama.cpp | TextGen | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 64 | 51 | llama.cpp +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 47 | 61 | TextGen +14 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 50 | llama.cpp +23 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 52 | 40 | llama.cpp +12 |
| 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) | 81 | 24 | llama.cpp +57 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 49 | llama.cpp +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -1 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **60.2 · C** | **45.1 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | llama.cpp | TextGen |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | Model platform |
| Vendor | ggml.ai (Hugging Face) | oobabooga |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-05-20 |
| 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 | 130k stars | 48k stars |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**llama.cpp.** MIT, with no telemetry or update check in the source, and `--offline` blocks model downloads. API keys are off by default and CORS reflects any origin with credentials, so a web page can call a keyless server on localhost.

**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

### llama.cpp

1. Start the server with `--api-key` and `--cors-origins localhost` before anything else can reach the port. Both are off by default
2. Pass `n_predict` or `max_tokens`. Generation is unbounded by default
3. Send `response_fields` to /completion to drop the fields you don't read
4. Wait and retry on a 503 `unavailable_error`. The model is still loading
5. Read the server README of the build you run. Behaviour changes between nightly builds without a changelog entry

### 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, llama.cpp or TextGen?

llama.cpp scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against TextGen's 45.1 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. TextGen leads on schema & documentation.

### Can an agent call llama.cpp and TextGen without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for llama.cpp. No hosted endpoint is listed for TextGen.

### Are llama.cpp and TextGen open source?

Yes. llama.cpp is open source (MIT). TextGen is open source (AGPL-3.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with llama.cpp or TextGen

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