BotTools / Productivity
Ollama
Open-source (MIT) tool for running open AI models locally from the terminal or desktop app, with an API for your own apps and optional cloud models.
Free tierFree to run models locally; cloud models pay as you go or paid plans from $20/moProductivity
Ollama at a glance
| Category | Productivity |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Free to run models locally; cloud models pay as you go or paid plans from $20/mo |
| Free tier | Yes |
| Pricing checked | 2026-10-28 |
| Official site | ollama.com |
Good for
What Ollama is used for
- Run open models locally from the terminal or the Ollama desktop app.
- Call local models from your own scripts and apps through Ollama's API, which is compatible with OpenAI and Anthropic APIs.
- Switch to larger models in Ollama's cloud when your computer can't run them; cloud model names end in :cloud.
Ollama pricing and key facts
- Open source under the MIT license.
- On a Mac it needs macOS Sonoma (14) or newer; Apple M-series Macs get CPU and GPU support, Intel (x86) Macs run on the CPU only.
- Running models on your own hardware is free and unlimited. Cloud use is pay as you go, with paid plans from $20/mo.
- Ollama says cloud prompts and responses are never logged or used for training.
- Models can take tens to hundreds of GB of disk space.
From the official site, checked 2026-10-28: ollama.com, ollama.com/pricing, docs.ollama.com/macos, github.com/ollama/ollama.
Ollama FAQ
Is Ollama free?
Yes, running models on your own computer is free with no subscription. Paid plans are only for Ollama's cloud models.
Does Ollama work on an Intel Mac?
Yes, but on the CPU only. Apple M-series Macs get GPU support as well.
Can other apps use Ollama?
Yes. Ollama exposes a local API that is compatible with OpenAI and Anthropic APIs, so many tools can point at it.
Task guides where Ollama is the alternative
Alternatives to Ollama
Notion AI
AI writing, Q&A and search inside Notion.
Free tierFree plan; full AI on Business at $20/member/moProductivity
Fireflies.ai
AI meeting notetaker for Zoom, Meet and Teams.
Free tierFree plan; Pro from $10/seat/mo billed annuallyProductivity
Jan
Free, open-source (Apache 2.0) desktop chat app that runs open models offline on your computer or connects to cloud models.
Free tierFree and open sourceProductivity
Nativ
Free, open-source (MIT) macOS app from Neywa Labs that runs MLX models locally on Apple silicon, with chat, a local API server and coding-agent integrations.
Free tierFree and open source (MIT)Productivity
Microsoft Copilot
AI across Windows, Edge and Office apps.
Free tierFree tier, Microsoft 365 Copilot paidProductivity
Fathom
Free AI meeting recorder and summaries.
Free tierFree plan; Team from $15/user/mo billed annuallyProductivity
Ollama comparisons
This slot is open. Feature your AI tool on matching task pages. See sponsor options
More Productivity task guides
Pricing changes often; confirm on the official site before buying.