LM Studio alternatives for Mac
LM Studio — Discover, download, and run local LLMs — is installed 5,922 times a month through Homebrew. These are hand-picked alternatives that occupy the same slot, ordered by how comparable their user base is.
Run
brew install --cask lm-studio to install LM Studio itself.- ollamauniversal · 10.5× the installs
- Diffusion Beeuniversal · 52.4× smaller user base
- Draw Thingsuniversal · 4.9× smaller user base
- Claudeuniversal · 3.4× the installs
- ChatGPTuniversal · 2.2× the installs
- MacWhisperuniversal · 7.2× smaller user base
- BoltAI 2universal · 151.8× smaller user base
- Januniversal · 16.4× smaller user base
Full comparison
| LM Studio | ollama | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | GUI app | CLI tool |
| Category | AI & Machine Learning | AI & Machine Learning |
| Open source | Not declared | Yes |
| Licence | Not declared | MIT |
| Apple silicon | Apple silicon only | All Macs (binary package) |
| Latest version | 0.4.26,4 | 0.40.11 |
| Dependencies | 0 | 1 |
| Installs (30 days) | 5,922 | 62,333 |
| Install command | brew install --cask lm-studio | brew install ollama |
How we picked these
The list comes from a hand-maintained set of same-purpose apps, not from keyword matching. Alternatives are removed automatically when Homebrew no longer carries them. Ordering reflects 30-day install volume, not paid placement. Data updated 2026-10-26.