Practical guides to running open-weight LLMs locally: Ollama, llama.cpp, VRAM needs, GGUF quantization, privacy, and local vs cloud.https://anything-llm.com/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/feeding-web-pages-to-a-local-model/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/feeding-web-pages-to-a-local-model/Raw HTML is mostly not content, and locally every token costs VRAM and wall-clock time. Why markdown is the format a small model can actually read.Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtoolscontextperformancehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/giving-a-local-model-web-access/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/giving-a-local-model-web-access/A local model's knowledge stops at its training cutoff. Wiring search into it closes the gap — and quietly ends the guarantee that nothing leaves your box.Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtoolsprivacylocal-vs-cloudhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/how-a-local-model-calls-a-tool/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/how-a-local-model-calls-a-tool/Local models don't run code or reach the network. Tool calling is a text protocol plus a loop you write — and small models fail at it in specific ways.Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtoolsservingmodel-selectionhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/choosing-a-local-llm-runtime/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/choosing-a-local-llm-runtime/How the main local LLM runtimes differ in practice — packaging, control, and API surface — and a decision framework for picking one and moving on.Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTollamalm-studiollama-cppgetting-startedhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/picking-a-local-model-for-the-job/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/picking-a-local-model-for-the-job/A repeatable way to choose an open-weight model for a specific task — filter by what fits, shortlist by design intent, then decide on your own work.Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTmodel-selectiongetting-startedhardwarehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/why-your-local-model-is-slow/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/why-your-local-model-is-slow/Local inference feels sluggish for a handful of reasons. Check them in this order — memory spill first — and you'll find the cause without guessing.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTperformancehardwarevramollamahttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/serving-a-local-model-over-http/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/serving-a-local-model-over-http/How local LLM runtimes expose an HTTP endpoint, why the OpenAI-compatible shape matters, and how to wire your own scripts and tools into a local model.Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTservingollamagetting-startedperformancehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/choosing-a-gpu-for-local-llms/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/choosing-a-gpu-for-local-llms/The GPU properties that actually govern local LLM performance — capacity first, then bandwidth — and why the spec people shop on matters least.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThardwarevramperformancehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/what-you-can-run-on-8gb-of-vram/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/what-you-can-run-on-8gb-of-vram/8 GB is enough for real local LLM work if you spend it deliberately. How to budget weights against context, and which trade-offs to make first.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTvramhardwarequantizationperformancehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/local-vs-cloud-llms-privacy-cost-tradeoffs/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/local-vs-cloud-llms-privacy-cost-tradeoffs/An honest comparison of running LLMs locally versus using cloud APIs — privacy, cost, latency, capability, and which to choose for real use cases.Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTlocal-vs-cloudprivacyhardwareperformancehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/local-llms-on-apple-silicon/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/local-llms-on-apple-silicon/Why Macs punch above their weight for local inference, where the bandwidth ceiling bites, and how to think about memory when CPU and GPU share a pool.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThardwarevramperformancegetting-startedhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/understanding-gguf-and-quantization-levels/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/understanding-gguf-and-quantization-levels/What GGUF is, how to read quantization labels like Q4_K_M, and how to choose a quant that balances quality and memory for your hardware.Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTggufquantizationhardwaregetting-startedhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/gpu-layer-offload-explained/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/gpu-layer-offload-explained/How local runtimes split a model between GPU and CPU, why a few spilled layers cost so much speed, and how to decide what to cut instead.Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTperformancevramhardwarellama-cpphttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/what-a-long-context-window-costs/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/what-a-long-context-window-costs/Context isn't free locally — it takes memory for the KV cache and time on every turn. How to size a context window to what you actually use.Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTvramperformancehardwarecontexthttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/how-much-vram-and-ram-you-need/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/how-much-vram-and-ram-you-need/A practical guide to sizing local LLMs: how to estimate VRAM and RAM from parameters and quantization, plus what happens when a model doesn't fit.Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThardwarevramquantizationgetting-startedhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/prompt-processing-vs-token-generation/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/prompt-processing-vs-token-generation/Local inference has two phases with opposite bottlenecks. Knowing which one you're waiting on tells you whether to change the model or the prompt.Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTperformancehardwarevramhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/run-your-first-local-llm-with-ollama/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/run-your-first-local-llm-with-ollama/A hands-on getting-started guide to running an open-weight LLM locally with Ollama — install, pull a model, chat, and call the local API.Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTgetting-startedollamalocal-vs-cloudhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/cpu-only-inference-when-it-works/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/cpu-only-inference-when-it-works/No GPU is not the same as no local LLM. Where CPU inference works well, what governs its speed, and which workloads suit it best.Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThardwareperformancegetting-startedllama-cpphttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/is-that-quant-good-enough/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/is-that-quant-good-enough/Stepping down a quant level to fit your GPU is usually worth it — but the only way to know for your work is a small repeatable check you run yourself.Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTquantizationggufperformancemodel-selectionhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/running-a-gguf-that-is-not-in-the-library/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/running-a-gguf-that-is-not-in-the-library/Curated model libraries are a subset. How to find, vet, and load an arbitrary GGUF file yourself when the quant or model you want isn't listed.Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTggufollamaquantizationmodel-selectionhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/model-load-time-and-keeping-it-warm/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/model-load-time-and-keeping-it-warm/The first request after an idle period pays to read gigabytes from disk. Why that happens, when to prevent it, and what keeping a model resident costs.Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTperformanceollamaservinghardwarehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/handling-concurrent-requests-locally/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/handling-concurrent-requests-locally/Local runtimes handle concurrency very differently from hosted APIs. What queueing and batching cost you, and how to plan for more than one caller.Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTservingperformancevramhardwarehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/running-a-local-llm-in-docker/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/running-a-local-llm-in-docker/Containers make a local model reproducible and portable — but GPU passthrough and model storage are the two things that decide whether it's worth it.Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTservinghardwaregetting-startedmaintenancehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/exposing-a-local-model-on-your-network/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/exposing-a-local-model-on-your-network/Local runtimes bind to loopback for a reason. What changes when you make one reachable from other machines, and how to do it deliberately.Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTservingprivacymaintenancehttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/what-actually-leaves-your-machine/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/what-actually-leaves-your-machine/Inference staying local doesn't mean nothing goes out. The traffic a local LLM setup really generates, and how to verify rather than assume.Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTprivacylocal-vs-cloudservinghttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/managing-model-files-on-disk/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/managing-model-files-on-disk/Model files accumulate fast and quietly. Where runtimes store them, how to audit what you have, and a simple policy for what to keep.Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTmaintenanceggufgetting-startedmodel-selectionhttps://anything-llm.com/blogs/updating-models-and-runtimes-safely/https://anything-llm.com/blogs/updating-models-and-runtimes-safely/Local LLM tooling moves fast, and updates change behaviour. How to upgrade deliberately, verify nothing regressed, and keep a way back.Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTmaintenanceperformancemodel-selectionollama