kitio.aillama.cpp vs SGLang
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. llama.cpp starts at Free and SGLang starts at Free. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- GGUF format
- Low-bit quantization
- Many GPU backends
- OpenAI-compatible server
- Built-in web UI
- RadixAttention caching
- Structured output
- MoE parallelism
- Speculative decoding
- OpenAI-compatible API
| Feature | llama.cpp | SGLang |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | C/C++ engine for running LLMs efficiently on CPUs and GPUs | Fast open-source serving framework for LLMs and vision models |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes, fully free | Yes, fully free |
| Made by | ggml-org | LMSYS |
| Based in | – | United States |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
llama.cpp starts at Free and SGLang starts at Free. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
llama.cpp
- Runs on modest hardware
- Very fast new-model support
- Foundation of many apps
- Command-line heavy
- Build options can confuse
- Less suited to high-concurrency serving
SGLang
- Very fast on large MoE models
- Strong prefix caching
- Active development
- Needs server-class GPUs
- Docs assume expertise
- Fewer beginner guides than vLLM
Which one should you choose?
Choose llama.cpp if you want:
- Runs on modest hardware
- Very fast new-model support
- Foundation of many apps
Watch out: command-line heavy.
Choose SGLang if you want:
- Very fast on large MoE models
- Strong prefix caching
- Active development
Watch out: needs server-class gpus.
llama.cpp vs SGLang FAQ
What is the difference between llama.cpp and SGLang?
llama.cpp: C/C++ engine for running LLMs efficiently on CPUs and GPUs. SGLang: Fast open-source serving framework for LLMs and vision models. Both are models & apis tools.
Is llama.cpp or SGLang cheaper?
llama.cpp starts at Free and SGLang starts at Free. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do llama.cpp and SGLang have free plans?
llama.cpp: Yes, fully free. SGLang: Yes, fully free.
Who makes llama.cpp?
llama.cpp is made by ggml-org.
Who makes SGLang?
SGLang is made by LMSYS, based in United States.
Which should I choose, llama.cpp or SGLang?
Choose llama.cpp if you value runs on modest hardware and very fast new-model support. Choose SGLang if you value very fast on large moe models and strong prefix caching.