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What is Ollama?
Ollama is a free tool that lets you download and run AI models on your own computer.
- Category Agents & tools
- Updated 20 Oct 2026
Ollama, explained simply
Ollama is a program that runs AI models locally. That means the AI runs on your computer, not on a company's server.
It matters because your chats can stay on your machine. You also don't pay per message.
For example, you can install Ollama, type one command, and start chatting with an open model offline.
Bigger models need a strong computer. Smaller ones run fine on many laptops.
On ITG Now, our free tool guides show how to install Ollama and use it with other open source projects.
Related terms
Local AIOpen weightsLM StudioCLIGPUVRAM
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Questions people ask about Ollama
Is Ollama free?
Yes, the Ollama app is free and open source. Some models have their own license rules.
Ollama vs ChatGPT: what is the difference?
ChatGPT runs on OpenAI's servers. Ollama runs models on your own computer.
Do I need a good computer to run Ollama?
Small models run on many laptops. Larger ones need more memory and a good graphics chip.