llama.cpp vs TextGen (text-generation-webui)
Short answer
llama.cpp: Lightweight C/C++ engine that runs quantized open models on CPU or GPU, with an OpenAI-compatible server. TextGen (text-generation-webui): Local LLM app (formerly text-generation-webui) with a browser UI, OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible API and LoRA training. Both are in our Local model runtimes category.
Choose llama.cpp if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)) and larger community (133k vs 47.7k GitHub stars).
llama.cpp and TextGen (text-generation-webui) publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
llama.cpp vs TextGen (text-generation-webui) side by side
| llama.cpp | TextGen (text-generation-webui) | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Local model runtimes | Local model runtimes |
| What it is | Lightweight C/C++ engine that runs quantized open models on CPU or GPU, with an OpenAI-compatible server. | Local LLM app (formerly text-generation-webui) with a browser UI, OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible API and LoRA training. |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| License type | Permissive | Network copyleft (AGPL) |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Individual models have their own licenses. | Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify TextGen and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source under AGPL-3.0. Models have their own licenses. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 133k | 47.7k |
| Last commit | Oct 30, 2026 | Aug 17, 2026 |
| Latest release | v0.8.0 | v4.9 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | 437 MiB idle, 489 MiB working (our test, vbuild 11804 (c7fc50941), Oct 22, 2026) | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Optional. Runs on CPU (AVX/AVX2/AVX512/AMX, ARM NEON) and supports CPU+GPU hybrid inference for models larger than VRAM. Docker images exist for CUDA, ROCm, SYCL, Vulkan, MUSA and OpenVINO. | Optional. Docker variants exist for NVIDIA, AMD, Intel Arc (beta) and CPU-only inference; portable builds come in CUDA, Vulkan, ROCm and CPU-only versions. |
| Est. server cost | from €11.99/mo (based on our test, not official) | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker (or install script / prebuilt binaries) | Docker Compose (built locally from the repo) |
| Known gotchas | 3 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | None (documented) |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | No (documented) |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Not documented |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | Not documented |
| Details | Full llama.cpp guide → | Full TextGen (text-generation-webui) guide → |
Key differences
- License: llama.cpp: MIT (Permissive). TextGen (text-generation-webui): AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)).
- Deploy: llama.cpp: Docker (or install script / prebuilt binaries) · multi-container stack. TextGen (text-generation-webui): Docker Compose (built locally from the repo) · multi-container stack.
- GitHub stars: llama.cpp: 133k. TextGen (text-generation-webui): 47.7k.
- Last commit: llama.cpp: Oct 30, 2026. TextGen (text-generation-webui): Aug 17, 2026.
- Latest release: llama.cpp: v0.8.0 (Oct 28, 2026). TextGen (text-generation-webui): v4.9 (May 20, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Local model runtimes; Official hardware: not published; GPU: optional / see notes; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Status: Active.
llama.cpp vs TextGen (text-generation-webui): FAQ
llama.cpp or TextGen (text-generation-webui): which should a small business choose?
Choose llama.cpp if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)) and larger community (133k vs 47.7k GitHub stars). llama.cpp and TextGen (text-generation-webui) publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, llama.cpp or TextGen (text-generation-webui)?
llama.cpp: not estimated (no official RAM figure). TextGen (text-generation-webui): not estimated (no official RAM figure). Our estimate is the cheapest Hetzner Cloud plan that meets each project's official RAM and vCPU figure; it covers the server only.
How much hardware do llama.cpp and TextGen (text-generation-webui) need?
llama.cpp: not published. TextGen (text-generation-webui): not published.
What is the license difference between llama.cpp and TextGen (text-generation-webui)?
llama.cpp: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Individual models have their own licenses. TextGen (text-generation-webui): AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)). Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify TextGen and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source under AGPL-3.0. Models have their own licenses. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is llama.cpp or TextGen (text-generation-webui) more actively maintained?
llama.cpp: Active, last commit Oct 30, 2026. TextGen (text-generation-webui): Active, last commit Aug 17, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 30, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, llama.cpp or TextGen (text-generation-webui)?
llama.cpp installs via Docker (or install script / prebuilt binaries) (multi-container stack); TextGen (text-generation-webui) via Docker Compose (built locally from the repo) (multi-container stack). llama.cpp lists 3 known gotchas and TextGen (text-generation-webui) lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- llama.cpp self-hosting guide · TextGen (text-generation-webui) self-hosting guide
- All llama.cpp alternatives, ranked
- All TextGen (text-generation-webui) alternatives, ranked
- GPUStack vs llama.cpp
- GPUStack vs TextGen (text-generation-webui)
- Jan vs llama.cpp
- llama.cpp vs LocalAI
- llama.cpp vs Ollama
- llama.cpp vs vLLM
- llama.cpp vs Xinference
- LocalAI vs TextGen (text-generation-webui)
- Ollama vs TextGen (text-generation-webui)
- TextGen (text-generation-webui) vs vLLM
- TextGen (text-generation-webui) vs Xinference
- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- llama.cpp GitHub repository: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp
- llama.cpp documentation: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/blob/master/docs/docker.md
- llama.cpp license: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/blob/master/LICENSE
- llama.cpp hardware requirements: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp#description
- llama.cpp deploy instructions: github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/blob/master/tools/server/README.md#docker
- TextGen (text-generation-webui) GitHub repository: github.com/oobabooga/textgen
- TextGen (text-generation-webui) documentation: github.com/oobabooga/textgen#installation
- TextGen (text-generation-webui) license: github.com/oobabooga/textgen/blob/main/LICENSE
- TextGen (text-generation-webui) hardware requirements: github.com/oobabooga/textgen/wiki/09-%E2%80%90-Docker
- TextGen (text-generation-webui) deploy instructions: github.com/oobabooga/textgen#docker
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-25): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub REST API (stars, commits, releases): docs.github.com/en/rest
Every value is generated from the same verified data as the app pages. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.