AI Tool Profile
LM Studio
LM Studio is a desktop app for discovering, downloading, running, and serving local language models.
Before you buy
Buying details reviewed 2026-10-23. Price, included amounts and access are dated observations; check the official source for current terms. This date does not review the whole fact ledger or renew historical demonstrations.
Best for: Developers, researchers, and local-first users testing LLMs on their own machines.
Price: C$0 desktop download; model/compute costs separate
Included: Local model download, chat and compatible local serving in LM Studio.
Main limits: Hardware memory, model licenses and serving configuration determine what works. A free app is not a cloud inference budget or permission to expose a server publicly.
What Kingy showed: Related coverage: The AI Skill Stack: Best Free AI Courses in 2026 and What to Learn First. This review does not treat that article as a new test of this exact model, plan or current release.
Check official plans · See the demonstration and disclosure · Compare these workflows
Before you choose · Choose an AI setup
LM Studio: workflow and access check
Download and try a local model, then test its API if needed.
Review due · Official-source review; no new hands-on test
This review covers the notes below. Earlier prices, tests and Product Facts retain their original dates.
LM Studio documents downloading local models, chat, and serving models through local or network endpoints. It supports llama.cpp models and MLX on Apple Silicon. LM Studio documentation
The macOS requirements specify Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later, recommend at least 16 GB RAM, and state that Intel Macs are unsupported. LM Studio system requirements
Check before choosing: Check supported hardware and runtime, then record model file, context and measured output. General system requirements do not prove a particular model fits.
Return to Choose an AI setup → · Browse retained reviews and tests
Review scope and source notes
Earlier article text, prices, tests and Product Facts keep their original dates and scope. This check covers only the cited notes here; it does not refresh the whole profile or its machine-readable facts.
Checked by: Codex-assisted official-source review. Task fit is editorial guidance. Test the exact plan, model and route with your own fixture.
Commercial relationship: Not established by this source review. Existing article disclosures still apply.
- LM Studio documentation — What can I do with LM Studio?; Run llama.cpp (GGUF) or MLX models. Checked 2026-09-20.
- LM Studio system requirements — macOS. Checked 2026-09-20.
Maintenance history
- 2026-09-20 · source recheck · Source recheck
Coverage describes this profile, not a product score or a current price guarantee.
Kingy AI Product Facts
LM Studio
Current statusUnknown
- Company
- Not yet reviewed
- Primary job
- Run local LLMs in LM Studio and expose them through its local API server.
- Audience
- Not yet reviewed
- API
- Available
- Evidence
- Source-backed; review due
- Latest source check
- November 2, 2026
See all tracked product factsPricing, platforms, dependencies, data claims, regions, and timeline
Sources and checks
- Coverage
- 6 of 87 tracked fields currently verified
- Sources
- 4
Source-check dates apply to the tracked facts. Editorial updates elsewhere on this page may have a different date.
Plans and pricing units
Not yet structured in this Kingy record.
Where it runs
- Linux
- AvailableOfficial sources: System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements
- Linux — Install or access
- https://lmstudio.ai/downloadSource: Download LM Studio · Download LM Studio
- Linux — Minimum version
- Ubuntu 20.04Source: System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements
- Local Runtime
- AvailableOfficial sources: lm local server · lm local server · lm local server · lm local server · lm tools · lm local server · lm local server · lm local server
- Macos
- AvailableOfficial sources: System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements
- Macos — Install or access
- https://lmstudio.ai/downloadSource: Download LM Studio · Download LM Studio
- Macos — Minimum version
- macOS 14.0Source: System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements
- Windows
- AvailableOfficial sources: System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements · System Requirements
- Windows — Install or access
- https://lmstudio.ai/downloadSource: Download LM Studio · Download LM Studio · Download LM Studio
Developer access
- API access
- AvailableSource: lm local server · lm local server · lm local server · lm local server · lm local server · lm local server · lm local server · lm local server
- API documentation
- https://lmstudio.ai/docs/developer/core/serverSource: lm local server · lm local server · lm local server
- API base URL
- http://localhost:1234Source: lm tools · lm tools · lm tools
Stack and integrations
- Model / provider dependencies
- Not yet reviewed
- Integrations
- Not yet reviewed
Data and regions
- Vendor data-use claim
- Not yet reviewed
- Vendor retention claim
- Not yet reviewed
- Regions
- Not yet reviewed
Launch and latest material update
- Launch
- Not yet reviewed
- Latest material update
- Not yet reviewed
Review history
- LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision - LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision - LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision - LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision - LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision - LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision - LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision - LM Studio — Verification status updated
Kingy updated the verification status. Each claim keeps its own source-check and editorial-review dates.
View published revision
Who should consider it
Developers, researchers, and local-first users testing LLMs on their own machines. LM Studio is a desktop app for discovering, downloading, running, and serving local language models.
Plan, price and billing scope
C$0 desktop download; model/compute costs separate. Local model download, chat and compatible local serving in LM Studio. Prices use the currency and billing term stated here. Where a numeric rate, region or current entitlement could not be verified, it remains explicit; no checkout was completed.
Limits that affect the decision
Hardware memory, model licenses and serving configuration determine what works. A free app is not a cloud inference budget or permission to expose a server publicly.
What the existing evidence shows
Related coverage: The AI Skill Stack: Best Free AI Courses in 2026 and What to Learn First. This review does not treat that article as a new test of this exact model, plan or current release. Related workflow reading; not a demonstration of this exact product. Read the related article.
Sources and buying-review date
Buying review completed October 23, 2026. This is a source-based buying assessment. No paid product test, new generation, checkout or performance benchmark was performed. Vendor descriptions and historical examples remain distinct from independently measured results. The date does not renew the broader canonical fact ledger.
- Official source: lmstudio.ai
- Official source: lmstudio.ai
- Official source: lmstudio.ai
- Official source: lmstudio.ai
- Official source: lmstudio.ai
- Official source: lmstudio.ai
- Related Kingy coverage
Check the official offer · Compare related options
Earlier profile, sources and dates
This older record retains its original scope. Current buying qualifications above take precedence where terms have changed.
LM Studio is a desktop app for discovering, downloading, running, and serving local language models.
What you can do with it
Use LM Studio to run a downloaded model on your computer, or serve it to another application through a local API. Its developer tools support chat and text generation, streaming, structured JSON output, embeddings, and model management. The available behavior depends on the model and configuration you choose. LM Studio developer documentation.
LM Studio model or context error?
Debug LM Studio model and context errors locally, choose LM Studio and paste the complete error JSON. The check runs in your tab without uploading the log.
- LM Studio model not found: check the exact loaded model identifier.
- LM Studio HTTP 500 with an inner context-size error: check the effective context allocation while preserving the full input.
Verified October 17, 2026 using LM Studio 0.4.26+4 with its installed Metal engine and Qwen3-4B Q4_K_M on one Mac. These repairs provide no memory-fit guarantee for your setup.
Check your computer first
On a Mac, LM Studio requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or newer; Intel Macs are currently unsupported. The documentation recommends at least 16 GB of RAM, while noting that smaller models and modest context sizes may work on an 8 GB Mac. Windows supports x64 and ARM systems, with AVX2 required on x64. Linux supports x64 and ARM64 and is distributed as an AppImage; the documented Ubuntu minimum is 20.04. These requirements do not guarantee that a particular model will fit or run quickly. Current system requirements.
Offline use and developer access
LM Studio says it can operate entirely offline once you have the model files. Its developer stack includes TypeScript and Python SDKs, a REST API, and OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible endpoints. Choose the interface your application actually uses; compatibility does not identify the model behind it. Offline operation · API and SDK options.
Local use and network access, checked October 22, 2026
Download the model and required runtime before disconnecting. LM Studio documents offline local chat, document processing and inference, while model searches, downloads, runtime downloads and update checks require internet access. Optional Bionic cloud inference and web search use network services. Check the selected model and features before treating a workflow as local. Offline operation · Local and cloud features.
The API authentication guide says authentication is off by default. LM Studio 0.4.0 and newer support API tokens: enable required authentication in the Developer page’s Server Settings, create a token and select its permissions. Keep a single-computer server bound to 127.0.0.1. The network guide warns that other bind addresses expose the server beyond localhost and recommends authentication. Enable it before sharing the server on a network.
This documentation check adds the network boundary and corrects the offline-source link. Kingy has not tested this server configuration or audited network traffic. The October 17 repair evidence and September 21 pricing review retain their original scope and dates.
Pricing reviewed September 21, 2026
Current team-plan correction, November 9, 2026: The pricing FAQ now offers organizations a choice of pay-as-you-go pooled credits or team seat-based plans. The earlier “coming soon” wording below records the September 21 review and is no longer current. This correction covers the team-plan purchase routes; the other dated prices retain their original review scope. Current LM Studio pricing FAQ.
Local model use remains available on the Free plan. The current Bionic pricing page lists:
- Free: $0. Includes local models, Bionic Agent, offline transcription, LM Link for up to five devices and limited web search.
- Bionic+: US$20/month. Adds optional cloud models, web search and page extraction.
- Pro: US$100/month. Includes Bionic+ features with five times its usage limits.
Cloud credits cover usage beyond the included allowance. The page does not state exact token allowances, per-model rates or credit prices. Centralized team billing through inference credits is available; team subscriptions are still described as coming soon. The Enterprise page provides a contact route without a public price.
LM Studio removed its separate workplace-license requirement in July 2025. The August 23, 2026 app terms permit personal and internal business use, subject to their conditions; downloaded models retain their own licenses. Hardware and electricity costs remain separate.
Under those terms, paid subscriptions renew unless cancelled before renewal. Included usage does not roll over unless expressly stated, and credits may have expiry conditions disclosed when offered. Kingy reviewed public sources only; checkout totals, account allowances and paid usage were not tested.
What this record does not establish
This documentation review does not provide a Kingy performance benchmark, a model-specific memory guarantee, or a complete cost estimate. Check the selected model’s requirements and terms alongside the application documentation.
Related records: Ollama · Open WebUI.
Alternatives
Tool Links
Related Kingy Links
Launch History
LM Studio 0.4.0 launch
LM Studio introduced version 0.4.0 with server deployment, parallel requests, continuous batching, a new REST API endpoint, and a refreshed UI.
- Launch readiness
- 7.1 / 10
- Demo evidence
- Not scored yet
- Creator-story fit
- Not scored yet
Score definitions and rubric
These are launch-record readiness heuristics, not product ratings.
Launch readiness
How complete and reviewable the launch record is, not the quality of the product.
Inputs and weights: Launch date 15%; qualifying source 10%; what launched 10%; demo 15%; category 10%; audience 10%; editorial assessment 10%; traction evidence 10%; creator or audience fit 10%.
Evidence inputs: Reviewed launch metadata, public source links, demo links, taxonomy, audience, editorial notes, and recorded traction signals.
Demo evidence
Whether the record contains useful, reviewable demonstration evidence; it is not a rating of product output quality.
Inputs and weights: Working demo URL 45%; video walkthrough 25%; clear description of what launched 10%; audience 10%; editorial assessment 10%.
Evidence inputs: Demo and video URLs plus the reviewed launch description, audience, and editorial notes.
Creator-story fit
Whether a launch has enough demonstrable evidence and audience relevance for a useful creator story; it does not predict views or guarantee coverage.
Inputs and weights: Demo evidence 25%; visual creator category 15%; audience 15%; editorial assessment 15%; traction evidence 10%; pricing clarity 10%; API or open-weight evidence 10%.
Evidence inputs: Reviewed demo, category, audience, editorial, traction, pricing, API, and open-weight fields.
- Scale
- 0.0–10.0. A present qualifying input receives its published weight; a missing input receives zero. Scores are rounded to one decimal.
- Assigned by
- Suggested by the deterministic field-completeness helper and assigned or approved by a Kingy editorial reviewer.
- Rubric and check date
- Rubric version P0-2026-08-10. The record’s “Last verified” date is the score check date. Checked: 2026-06-24.
- Confidence and missing data
- Confidence depends on source completeness. “Not scored yet” means no reviewed value; “Needs review” means the value or score set failed validation.
- Freshness
- Recalculate after a material launch, source, demo, pricing, audience, or traction change and during the record freshness review.
- Disputes
- Use “Suggest a correction” on the record and cite the relevant evidence. Commercial relationships cannot buy or alter a score.
LM Studio introduced version 0.4.0 with server deployment, parallel requests, continuous batching, a new REST API endpoint, and a refreshed UI (lmstudio.ai). Developers, Researchers,…