# TextGen vs vLLM

> vLLM scores 57.7 (C) to TextGen's 45.1 (E) for local inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/text-generation-webui-vs-vllm
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/text-generation-webui-vs-vllm.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/text-generation-webui-vs-vllm.min.md (~530 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/text-generation-webui-vs-vllm.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

vLLM scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against TextGen's 45.1 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do local inference.

- TextGen: grade E, 45.1/100, rank #872 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/text-generation-webui.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/text-generation-webui.json
- vLLM: grade C, 57.7/100, rank #600 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vllm.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vllm.json
- Best local AI models and assistants: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/local-ai/index.md
- All 184 local ai comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/local-ai/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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.

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

### vLLM (C)

Good for: An owner with a GPU server who wants many concurrent requests against one open-weight model behind OpenAI or Anthropic compatible routes.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 62 against 51
- Schema & documentation, 68 against 61
- Agent ergonomics, 64 against 50
- Security & auth, 50 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 24
- Transparency & trust, 67 against 49

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

Watch for: `--api-key` guards only the `/v1`, `/v2`, `/inference` and `/cohere` prefixes. `/invocations`, `/pooling`, `/classify`, `/score`, `/rerank`, `/pause` and `/update_weights` answer without it


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | TextGen | vLLM | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 51 | 62 | vLLM +11 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 68 | vLLM +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 50 | 64 | vLLM +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 50 | vLLM +10 |
| 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) | 24 | 88 | vLLM +64 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 67 | vLLM +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -6 | |
| **Total** | | **45.1 · E** | **57.7 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | TextGen | vLLM |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model platform | HTTP API |
| Vendor | oobabooga | vLLM project (PyTorch Foundation) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-05-20 | 2026-10-02 |
| 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 | 48k stars | 93k stars |

## Verdicts

**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.

**vLLM.** Apache-2.0 software with a release about every two weeks, each with notes that list breaking changes and security fixes. The optional API key covers only some path prefixes, so `/invocations` and control routes such as `/pause` answer without it, and at least 81 security advisories were published in the 12 months to 9 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### 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

### vLLM

1. Put a reverse proxy that allowlists routes in front of the server. `--api-key` leaves `/invocations` and the control routes open
2. Pass `--host 127.0.0.1` for single-machine use. With no `--host` the server listens on every interface
3. Set `VLLM_NO_USAGE_STATS=1` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before starting if nothing should be sent to stats.vllm.ai
4. Start with `--enable-auto-tool-choice` and the `--tool-call-parser` for the model before sending tools. Tool calling is off without them
5. Send `max_tokens` on every request, and read the breaking changes section of the release notes before upgrading a minor version

## Questions

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

vLLM scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against TextGen's 45.1 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Can an agent call TextGen and vLLM without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for TextGen. No hosted endpoint is listed for vLLM.

### Are TextGen and vLLM open source?

Yes. TextGen is open source (AGPL-3.0). vLLM is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

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