--- title: Complete Developer Guide | daily.dev description: A comprehensive guide to running large language models locally in 2026, covering hardware requirements (GPU/CPU/Apple Silicon), tooling options (Ollama, LM... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/complete-developer-guide-29dxehjjh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Complete Developer Guide | daily.dev og:description: A comprehensive guide to running large language models locally in 2026, covering hardware requirements (GPU/CPU/Apple Silicon), tooling options (Ollama, LM... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/complete-developer-guide-29dxehjjh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/29dxEHjjH.png og:image:alt: Complete Developer Guide og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Complete Developer Guide **[SitePoint](https://daily.dev/sources/sitepoint)** · 24 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A comprehensive guide to running large language models locally in 2026, covering hardware requirements (GPU/CPU/Apple Silicon), tooling options (Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, vLLM), and Python integration. Includes step-by-step Ollama installation, model selection guidance with quantization trade-offs, a RAG pipeline using ChromaDB, structured output extraction, performance optimization tips, and a complete automated setup script. Benchmark tables compare hardware configurations against model sizes (7B to 70B), and a tool comparison matrix covers ease of setup, API compatibility, GPU support, and best use cases. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [How to Run LLMs Locally: A Practical Guide for Developers](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-llms-locally-a-practical-guide-for-developers-tijurupob) · BigData Boutique blog · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to Run and Customize LLMs Locally with Ollama](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-and-customize-llms-locally-with-ollama-cixkmhbqh) · freeCodeCamp · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Local LLMs Are Getting Easier: The Complete Guide \(2026\)](https://daily.dev/posts/local-llms-are-getting-easier-the-complete-guide-2026--gaggzz9j2) · SitePoint · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Run a Local AI Model with Ollama in 15 Minutes](https://daily.dev/posts/run-a-local-ai-model-with-ollama-in-15-minutes-5wx17jt3x) · Machine Learning Mastery · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to Use Ollama to Run Large Language Models Locally – Real Python](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-ollama-to-run-large-language-models-locally-real-python-fhurefciw) · Real Python · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#lm-studio](https://daily.dev/tags/lm-studio), [#local-ai](https://daily.dev/tags/local-ai), [#ollama](https://daily.dev/tags/ollama), [#python](https://daily.dev/tags/python), [#rag](https://daily.dev/tags/rag) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/complete-developer-guide-29dxehjjh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Complete Developer Guide","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/complete-developer-guide-29dxehjjh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/complete-developer-guide-29dxehjjh"},"datePublished":"2026-03-13T21:04:24.169Z","dateModified":"2026-06-18T02:16:08.949Z","description":"A comprehensive guide to running large language models locally in 2026, covering hardware requirements (GPU/CPU/Apple Silicon), tooling options (Ollama, LM...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/57743571ccccb24629a9387cc24397e8?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/57743571ccccb24629a9387cc24397e8?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"SitePoint","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"SitePoint","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/sitepoint","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/sitepoint"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/complete-developer-guide-29dxehjjh","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"lm-studio,local-ai,ollama,python,rag","timeRequired":"PT24M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SitePoint","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/sitepoint"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Complete Developer Guide"}]} ```