QVAC vs LM Studio
QVAC
Open-source ecosystem for local-first peer-to-peer AI on every platform.
LM Studio
A desktop application for finding, running and serving local models, with a TypeScript SDK.
Key differences
One of LM Studio's strengths is how little setup it takes to run a local model: models are searched and downloaded in the application, used in a built-in chat, and served on a port through an OpenAI-compatible API. It also publishes a TypeScript SDK and an lms command line tool for driving it from code. QVAC is called as a library from application code, with no interface of its own.
What reaches an end user differs. LM Studio is an application installed on a machine, which other software then calls over local HTTP, so each user needs it installed, updated and running. QVAC is compiled into the application itself, and on iOS and Android no desktop application can fill that role.
The licences differ. The LM Studio application is proprietary, with its client SDKs published under MIT. The QVAC SDK is Apache 2.0 and the Fabric engine is MIT, both permissive, so either can be audited, forked or shipped inside a commercial product.
This page compares LM Studio v0.4.23, released 28 August 2026, against QVAC 0.18.2, meaning the SDK together with the Fabric inference engine at v10297.1.1. Every row was checked against the project's own documentation and release notes on 4 September 2026. Both projects move quickly, so check the current release before you make a decision on either one.
Feature matrix
Feature
QVAC
LM Studio
PLATFORMS
macOS
YesYesWindows
YesYesLinux
YesYesAndroid
YesiOS
YesAI TASKS
Text generation
YesYesTranscription
YesTranslation
YesImage generation
YesOCR
YesText-to-speech
YesRUNTIME SUPPORT
Node.js
YesYesBare
YesExpo
YesHTTP server
YesYesCLI
YesYesP2P
Peer discovery
YesInference delegation
YesVia LM Link
Encrypted transport
YesMOBILE SUPPORT
On-device inference
YesLoRA fine-tuning on mobile
YesMobile SDK
YesLICENSING
License
Apache 2.0
Proprietary
Open weights tooling
YesYesWhen to choose QVAC
You are shipping software rather than installing a tool.
You target mobile, where a desktop application cannot run.
You need an auditable, permissively licensed stack.
You need speech, OCR, translation or image generation.
When to choose LM Studio
You want to browse and compare models in an interface.
You are evaluating quantisations by hand before committing.
Your team would rather stay out of a terminal.
You want MLX tuned for Apple Silicon out of the box.
Compare
Ready to build with QVAC?
One SDK, every platform, no rent. Grab it and ship your own local-first AI.
npm install @qvac/sdk