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LLM inference engines: star history compared

Most starred

181k

ollama/ollama

Running large language models yourself went from research stunt to commodity in about two years, and these five projects did most of the commoditizing. llama.cpp proved frontier-class models could run on a laptop, Ollama wrapped that power in a one-line install, and vLLM and SGLang turned GPU serving throughput into a public leaderboard of its own. The star histories here are effectively a timeline of the local-AI movement.

Ranked by current GitHub stars · growth = stars gained in the trailing 90 days · data updated Sep 2026

LLM inference engines — star history
151k STARS3 YR 11 MOollama/ollama151kggml-org/llama.cpp93kvllm-project/vllm59ksgl-project/sglang20ktext-generation-inference10k

ollama/ollama: 150,918 stars on September 16, 2026. ggml-org/llama.cpp: 93,020 stars on September 16, 2026. vllm-project/vllm: 58,952 stars on September 16, 2026. sgl-project/sglang: 19,823 stars on September 16, 2026. huggingface/text-generation-inference: 10,183 stars on May 8, 2026.

Star history for ollama/ollama
DateStars
July 3, 20232
July 26, 20233194
August 9, 20234848
August 23, 20235650
September 6, 20236735
September 20, 20237083
October 4, 20238141
October 18, 20239707
November 1, 202310579
November 15, 202316778
December 2, 202319318
December 16, 202321972
December 30, 202327798
January 13, 202429907
January 27, 202432496
February 10, 202435217
February 24, 202438551
March 9, 202444051
March 23, 202447855
April 6, 202450922
April 20, 202454668
May 4, 202460878
May 18, 202464632
June 1, 202467750
June 15, 202470516
June 29, 202473104
July 13, 202475335
July 27, 202478227
August 10, 202481310
August 24, 202483434
September 10, 202485633
September 24, 202487597
October 8, 202489508
October 22, 202491384
November 5, 202493368
November 19, 202495340
December 3, 202497381
December 17, 202499806
December 31, 2024101753
January 14, 2025104202
January 28, 2025109427
February 11, 2025120306
February 25, 2025124864
March 11, 2025127658
March 25, 2025130030
April 8, 2025131754
April 22, 2025133459
May 6, 2025134900
May 20, 2025136312
June 3, 2025137444
June 20, 2025138558
July 4, 2025139396
July 18, 2025140272
August 1, 2025141238
August 15, 2025142440
August 29, 2025143111
September 12, 2025143765
September 26, 2025144371
October 14, 2025144780
October 28, 2025145180
November 11, 2025145589
November 25, 2025145955
December 9, 2025146312
December 23, 2025146678
January 6, 2026147102
January 20, 2026147559
February 3, 2026148116
February 17, 2026148567
March 3, 2026148958
March 17, 2026149281
April 3, 2026149592
April 17, 2026150090
May 1, 2026150313
May 15, 2026150439
May 29, 2026150541
June 12, 2026150621
June 28, 2026150664
July 24, 2026150682
August 29, 2026150705
September 16, 2026150918
Star history for ggml-org/llama.cpp
DateStars
March 10, 2023255
March 25, 202312611
April 10, 202319801
April 25, 202322717
May 11, 202324698
May 27, 202326389
June 11, 202328760
June 27, 202330529
July 12, 202332214
July 28, 202334477
August 16, 202336065
August 31, 202337553
September 16, 202338702
October 2, 202339613
October 17, 202340550
November 2, 202341538
November 17, 202342513
December 3, 202343733
December 19, 202345120
January 3, 202446294
January 19, 202447618
February 4, 202448768
February 19, 202449649
March 6, 202451146
March 21, 202452275
April 6, 202453534
April 22, 202455326
May 7, 202456795
May 23, 202458009
June 7, 202459161
June 26, 202460287
July 12, 202461192
July 27, 202462331
August 12, 202463270
August 28, 202464160
September 12, 202464890
September 28, 202465749
October 13, 202466472
October 29, 202467397
November 14, 202468265
November 29, 202468966
December 15, 202469788
December 31, 202470600
January 15, 202571404
January 31, 202573218
February 15, 202575125
March 3, 202576517
March 19, 202577676
April 3, 202578469
April 19, 202579285
May 8, 202580350
May 23, 202581713
June 8, 202582254
June 23, 202582708
July 9, 202583182
July 25, 202583668
August 9, 202584324
August 25, 202584953
September 9, 202585463
September 25, 202585902
October 16, 202586242
October 31, 202586522
November 16, 202587174
December 2, 202587505
December 17, 202587852
January 2, 202688293
January 17, 202688654
February 2, 202689093
February 18, 202689470
March 5, 202689905
March 24, 202690438
April 9, 202691064
April 24, 202691655
May 10, 202692091
May 25, 202692398
June 10, 202692570
June 27, 202692647
July 26, 202692681
August 29, 202692706
September 16, 202693020
Star history for vllm-project/vllm
DateStars
June 20, 2023231
July 4, 20232998
July 18, 20233591
August 1, 20234308
August 16, 20235067
August 30, 20235647
September 13, 20236338
September 27, 20237159
October 12, 20237937
October 26, 20238490
November 12, 20239109
November 26, 20239742
December 11, 202310510
December 25, 202311631
January 8, 202412303
January 22, 202413076
February 6, 202413792
February 20, 202414290
March 5, 202414936
March 20, 202415640
April 3, 202416378
April 17, 202417134
May 1, 202417997
May 16, 202418774
May 30, 202419409
June 13, 202420134
June 27, 202420897
July 12, 202421925
July 26, 202422804
August 9, 202423598
August 26, 202424532
September 10, 202425325
September 24, 202426344
October 8, 202427042
October 22, 202427915
November 6, 202428698
November 20, 202429482
December 4, 202430208
December 19, 202431020
January 2, 202531880
January 16, 202532666
January 30, 202534306
February 14, 202536404
February 28, 202538242
March 14, 202539799
March 29, 202541289
April 12, 202542627
April 26, 202543842
May 10, 202544951
May 25, 202545859
June 11, 202546691
June 25, 202547528
July 9, 202548230
July 24, 202548979
August 7, 202549778
August 21, 202550646
September 4, 202551364
September 19, 202552069
October 3, 202552553
October 21, 202552904
November 4, 202553493
November 19, 202554074
December 3, 202554475
December 17, 202554916
January 1, 202655381
January 15, 202655788
January 29, 202656248
February 12, 202656646
February 27, 202656990
March 13, 202657387
March 30, 202657706
April 13, 202658053
April 28, 202658356
May 12, 202658503
May 26, 202658604
June 10, 202658659
June 26, 202658710
July 19, 202658747
August 30, 202658764
September 16, 202658952
Star history for sgl-project/sglang
DateStars
January 16, 202419
January 27, 2024882
February 7, 20241222
February 19, 20241390
March 1, 20241534
March 12, 20241703
March 24, 20241899
April 4, 20242008
April 16, 20242096
April 27, 20242175
May 11, 20242281
May 22, 20242339
June 2, 20242407
June 14, 20242492
June 26, 20242554
July 7, 20242629
July 19, 20242709
July 30, 20243378
August 11, 20243836
August 22, 20244081
September 2, 20244595
September 14, 20244869
September 25, 20245040
October 6, 20245195
October 18, 20245399
October 29, 20245558
November 10, 20245712
November 21, 20245905
December 2, 20246044
December 14, 20246232
December 27, 20246506
January 8, 20256876
January 19, 20257114
January 31, 20257880
February 11, 20258845
February 22, 20259998
March 6, 202510864
March 17, 202511408
March 28, 202511944
April 9, 202512331
April 20, 202512661
May 2, 202513131
May 13, 202513503
May 24, 202513788
June 5, 202513951
June 16, 202514122
June 27, 202514326
July 9, 202514531
July 20, 202514714
August 1, 202514914
August 14, 202515159
August 26, 202515393
September 6, 202515625
September 17, 202515794
September 29, 202516057
October 15, 202516175
October 27, 202516412
November 7, 202516714
November 18, 202516879
November 30, 202517009
December 11, 202517271
December 22, 202517579
January 3, 202617729
January 14, 202617901
January 26, 202618049
February 6, 202618233
February 17, 202618310
March 1, 202618470
March 12, 202618597
March 23, 202618725
April 6, 202618854
April 17, 202618933
April 29, 202619046
May 10, 202619142
May 22, 202619199
June 2, 202619254
June 16, 202619280
July 18, 202619307
September 3, 202619331
September 16, 202619823
Star history for huggingface/text-generation-inference
DateStars
October 18, 20229
November 24, 202242
January 17, 202358
February 4, 202379
February 18, 2023156
March 5, 2023332
March 18, 2023389
April 1, 2023470
April 14, 2023532
April 27, 2023831
May 13, 20231081
May 27, 20231269
June 9, 20231697
June 22, 20232099
July 6, 20232498
July 19, 20232869
August 1, 20233658
August 15, 20234112
August 28, 20234371
September 10, 20234622
September 24, 20234863
October 7, 20235048
October 20, 20235237
November 3, 20235446
November 16, 20235598
November 29, 20235758
December 13, 20235910
December 26, 20236077
January 8, 20246215
January 21, 20246344
February 6, 20246558
February 20, 20246667
March 4, 20246769
March 17, 20246913
March 31, 20247068
April 13, 20247373
April 26, 20247527
May 10, 20247648
May 23, 20247747
June 5, 20247827
June 20, 20247931
July 3, 20248008
July 16, 20248086
July 30, 20248189
August 12, 20248253
August 26, 20248335
September 9, 20248430
September 23, 20248509
October 6, 20248562
October 20, 20248624
November 5, 20248700
November 18, 20248800
December 1, 20248851
December 14, 20249097
December 28, 20249171
January 10, 20259227
January 24, 20259292
February 7, 20259376
February 20, 20259446
March 5, 20259513
March 19, 20259579
April 1, 20259632
April 14, 20259684
April 30, 20259742
May 14, 20259784
May 28, 20259824
June 13, 20259850
June 27, 20259880
July 11, 20259914
July 26, 20259942
August 16, 20259984
September 1, 202510011
September 16, 202510047
October 2, 202510071
October 31, 202510092
November 19, 202510116
December 19, 202510136
January 19, 202610151
February 19, 202610167
May 8, 202610183

How each series was read

  • ollama/ollama

    Historical star data · Covers through September 16, 2026

  • ggml-org/llama.cpp

    Historical star data · Covers through September 16, 2026

  • vllm-project/vllm

    Historical star data · Covers through September 16, 2026

  • sgl-project/sglang

    Historical star data · Covers through September 16, 2026

  • huggingface/text-generation-inference

    Historical star data · Covers through May 8, 2026

Ranking

5 repositories

LLM inference engines ranked by current total GitHub stars
#RepositoryStars+90dFirst starHealth
1ollama/ollama181,107~2722023debt charts
2ggml-org/llama.cpp128,351~4202023debt charts
3vllm-project/vllm91,862~2742023debt charts
4sgl-project/sglang36,041~5432024debt charts
5huggingface/text-generation-inference10,886~222022debt charts

Repository health compared

Live analysis · unavailable data stays labelled

Popularity is only one axis. Compare technical scale, maintenance cadence, ownership resilience and change pressure against the same completed analysis that sits behind each report.

Reach

Popularity and real-world adoption

Signalollama/ollamaggml-org/llama.cppvllm-project/vllmsgl-project/sglanghuggingface/text-generation-inference
GitHub starsCurrent public GitHub metadata total.Best result in this row: 181,107128,35191,86236,04110,886
Stars gained · trailing 90dChange in the newest 90 days covered by each cached series.+272+420+274Best result in this row: +543+22
ForksCurrent public GitHub metadata total.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Largest package audienceLargest resolved registry total; sources are shown explicitly.No resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved package
Repository ageElapsed years since the GitHub creation timestamp.3.2 years3.5 years3.6 years2.7 years3.9 years

Codebase

Size and technical center of gravity

Signalollama/ollamaggml-org/llama.cppvllm-project/vllmsgl-project/sglanghuggingface/text-generation-inference
Dominant languageLargest share of analyzed code lines at current HEAD.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Code linesAnalyzed source lines at current HEAD, excluding blanks and comments.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Languages representedLanguages with non-zero files or line counts.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Maintenance

Commit volume and recent operating cadence

Signalollama/ollamaggml-org/llama.cppvllm-project/vllmsgl-project/sglanghuggingface/text-generation-inference
Repository commitsFull repository commit total reported by the analysis.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Commits · trailing 90dCommit count in the newest 90 days covered by the repository analysis.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Ownership

How broadly maintenance responsibility is distributed

Signalollama/ollamaggml-org/llama.cppvllm-project/vllmsgl-project/sglanghuggingface/text-generation-inference
Bus factorFewest analyzed contributors carrying at least half the commits.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Top contributor concentrationShare of attributed commits carried by the most active contributor.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Change signals

Debt markers and fix pressure in frequently changed files

Signalollama/ollamaggml-org/llama.cppvllm-project/vllmsgl-project/sglanghuggingface/text-generation-inference
Fix-labelled share · frequently changed filesFix-labelled commits divided by commits across the analyzed high-frequency file set.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Recent TODO/FIXME movementLatest cumulative marker count and its change over the trailing 90 days.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Head to head

open in the builder

Frequently asked

Which of these llm inference engines has the most GitHub stars?

ollama/ollama is the most-starred of the llm inference engines gitdebt compares, with 181,107 GitHub stars as of Sep 2026. It earned its first star in 2023.

Which of these llm inference engines is growing the fastest?

sgl-project/sglang added the most stars over the last 90 days of its cached history — about 543 new stars, compared with about 272 for the category leader ollama/ollama. 90-day figures are approximate for older repos, whose history is downsampled.

How is this comparison computed?

The table ranks public repository metadata by current total stars. Each curve is that repository's stored star series — read either from GitHub's stargazer list or rebuilt from historical star data — drawn on shared axes, with trailing 90-day growth estimated from it. The legend under the chart names each series' own source and coverage date. Repo-health charts come independently from each repository's commit history.

Related categories

all categories

Fastest-growing repos across all of gitdebt