LM Studio is a free desktop app for downloading and running language models locally on Windows, with a chat window and a local API server. Version 0.4.25.
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About LM Studio
LM Studio 0.4.25 is a desktop app from Element Labs that lets you search for language models, download them and chat with them without leaving one window. Everything runs on your Windows PC. The app is free to use, though it is proprietary software rather than open source; the download button here takes you to the official lmstudio.ai link for the latest Windows build.
Who LM Studio is for
If the words "pull a model from the terminal" put you off, LM Studio is the gentle way into local AI. You type a model name into the built-in search, see which variants exist and how large they are, click download and start a conversation a minute later. Models come in the GGUF format that most local tools use; on Apple Silicon Macs the app can also run MLX models, which does not matter on Windows. For developers there is a local server mode with an OpenAI-compatible API, so a script or an editor extension written for a cloud service can talk to a model on your own machine instead.
What you need
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| System | Windows on x64 or ARM; also macOS on Apple Silicon and Linux |
| Processor | support for AVX2 instructions |
| Memory | 16 GB of RAM recommended |
| Graphics | optional; 4 GB of video memory or more is recommended |
| Installer | LM-Studio-0.4.25-1-x64.exe, about 590 MB |
These are the vendor's figures from its system requirements page. The model you choose matters more than the app: a larger model needs more memory, and without enough of it the app will warn you before loading.
A typical first session
After installation the app opens on its discovery screen. Pick a small model to start with, let it download, and switch to the chat tab. From there you can adjust the system prompt, keep several conversations and load a different model whenever you like. When you want other programs to use the model, open the developer section and start the local server. Version 0.4.25 was released on 19 September 2026; the app notifies you when a newer build is available.
Free, but not open source
LM Studio costs nothing, and you do not need an account to use it. Its code, however, is closed, which is the main difference from Ollama, Jan, GPT4All and AnythingLLM, all of which publish their source. The models you download keep their own licences, which you should read if you plan to use a model commercially. We link to the vendor's download and do not host a copy of the installer ourselves.
Alternatives
- Ollama — open source, command line first, with a local API that many tools support.
- Jan — an open-source chat app that can also connect to cloud APIs.
- GPT4All — open source, built around chatting with your own documents.
- AnythingLLM — workspaces for documents and agents on top of local or cloud models.
Strengths and weaknesses
- Plus: model search and download built into the app.
- Plus: no command line needed, yet a local API is there for developers.
- Plus: free, no account required.
- Minus: closed source.
- Minus: needs a processor with AVX2 and a fair amount of RAM.