Running an AI model on your own machine, without sending data to the cloud, used to be complicated. Ollama solved that: with a single command you download and run open models locally, with a simple API. It is an alternative to paid APIs for local, offline and private use.
What is Ollama?
Ollama does "pull-and-run" for models like Llama, Gemma, Qwen and DeepSeek (with quantized format support), exposes a REST API and an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, and runs on macOS, Linux and Windows with automatic GPU offloading. It is one of the most-starred AI tools on GitHub.
Key features
- Download and run open models with one command
- REST API and OpenAI-compatible endpoint (drop-in local backend)
- Cross-platform, with automatic GPU offloading
- Modelfile system for customization
How Reche uses it
For prototyping, offline use or privacy requirements, running models locally with Ollama is unbeatable. Reche uses this kind of tool in development and helps clients decide when local beats cloud, by the math of cost, privacy and performance.