Self-host Ollama

AI Chat Interfaces

deployed & timed by usprices checked · Jul 2026

Lightweight local model runner and OpenAI-compatible API server for downloading and serving open LLMs on your own hardware, with optional NVIDIA/AMD GPU acceleration — CPU-only also works for smaller models.

ChatGPT / yr$240

Self-hosted / yr~$55

You keep$185/yr

Key facts

CategoryAI Chat Interfaces

LicenseMIT

StackGo, C++

Min RAM8192 MB

Dockeryes

Difficulty

Our recommendation

Reach for Ollama when you want the simplest way to download and serve open LLMs on your own hardware — one command pulls a model and exposes an OpenAI-compatible API on port `11434`. It's the de facto local-model runtime and the easiest thing in this roster to start (difficulty 1). It's a backend, not a chat app: pair it with Open WebUI or LibreChat for a UI. If you also need image or voice models, LocalAI covers more model types.

What you need

Any VPS with at least 8192 MB of RAM
A domain you control — most self-hosted setups need HTTPS in front of them
Under an hour if you've used Docker before

Install with Docker Compose

Save this as compose.yml and run docker compose up -d:

# Ollama — official CPU container (add --gpus=all for NVIDIA)
docker run -d -v ollama:/root/.ollama -p 11434:11434 --name ollama ollama/ollama
docker exec -it ollama ollama run llama3.2  #  pull + chat with a model

vps picksBest VPS for self-hostingbenchmarked quarterly · re-priced monthly

What you take on

Ollama is a model server, and treating it like a finished product is where people trip:

non-negotiableIt's a runtime, not a UI. Ollama gives you an API and a CLI, not a chat window — you'll run a front end like Open WebUI on top, or drive it from your own code.

non-negotiableRAM is the real floor. The 8 GB minimum is for small quantized models; larger ones want far more, and CPU-only inference is slow — a GPU is what makes local models feel responsive, and that's the honest cost.

non-negotiableModels carry their own licences. Ollama itself is MIT, but each model you ollama pull has its own terms (Llama's community licence, Gemma's, and so on) — check them before any commercial use.