Ollama vs OpenAI API
OpenAI API OpenAI
GPT models for text, vision, images, audio and realtime voice, plus the Agents SDK.
VisitSide by side
| Property | Ollama | OpenAI API |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Product | Product |
| Category | AI models and APIs | AI models and APIs |
| Made by | Ollama | OpenAI |
| Pricing | Free | Pay per use |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Desktop, Terminal, Self-hosted | API |
| Startup | Yes | Yes |
Features
Only Ollama
- local models
- open weights
- privacy
- inference
Both
None
Only OpenAI API
- llm api
- reasoning
- image generation
- voice
- embeddings
- agents