Ollama is a platform for running large language models locally on a user's computer. It simplifies downloading, starting, and interacting with models through a command-line interface and local API, reducing the amount of infrastructure normally required to experiment with open models.

The project supports a broad catalog of model families and provides a consistent way to run them locally. Users can pull models, start conversations, create customized model configurations, and integrate local inference into applications through Ollama's API. This makes it useful for developers building AI applications as well as users who want to experiment with models without depending entirely on hosted inference services.

Because models can run on local hardware, Ollama is particularly attractive for development, experimentation, offline use, and workflows where greater control over data and model execution is important. It is available across major desktop operating systems and is commonly used as a local model backend for other AI applications and interfaces.