Rapid-MLX

What is Rapid-MLX?

Rapid-MLX runs large language models locally on Apple Silicon Macs and exposes them through an OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible server at localhost:8000. You install it with a one-line script, Homebrew or pip, run rapid-mlx serve with a model alias, and point tools such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, Aider, Cursor or Open WebUI at the local endpoint. The engine is built on MLX, ships 27 tool-call parsers for agent use, and lets several clients share one Mac at the same time. Beyond chat completions it serves the Responses and Anthropic Messages APIs, embeddings, audio, images and video. A separate native Mac app offers chat, a built-in model library and local dictation with Whisper, Qwen3-ASR, SenseVoice or Parakeet. If you find a model on Hugging Face, it checks whether your Mac can run it before downloading. Both the engine and the app are free and open source under Apache 2.0, with no account, trial or billing. It needs macOS 14 or later and an M1 or newer chip.

Use cases

• Serve a local LLM to coding agents
• Run an OpenAI-compatible API on a Mac
• Chat with local models offline
• Dictate into any Mac app locally
• Import and quantize a Hugging Face model
• Connect Claude Code to a local model
• Generate embeddings on your own machine

Who it's for

• Developers on Apple Silicon
• AI agent builders
• Privacy-conscious users
• Local LLM enthusiasts

Why use Rapid-MLX

• Models run on your Mac, so prompts and conversations do not need to go to a cloud service, and there is no account.
• Coding agents that speak the OpenAI or Anthropic API can use a local model by changing a base URL.
• Several tools can share one Mac at the same time instead of waiting in a queue.
• The app and the engine are free under Apache 2.0, so there is no per-token or subscription cost.
• A fit check before downloading a Hugging Face model saves a large download that would not run on your hardware.

Rapid-MLX features

• OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible local server
• 27 tool-call parsers for coding agents
• Shared serving for several concurrent clients
• OpenAI-style, Responses and Anthropic Messages endpoints, plus embeddings, audio, image and video
• Model catalog with 264 MLX-native models
• Pre-download check and import path for Hugging Face models
• rapid-mlx launch for Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, Pi, Hermes and Crush
• Native Mac app with chat and a built-in model library
• Local dictation with Whisper, Qwen3-ASR, SenseVoice or Parakeet
• Service mode that starts at boot on a headless Mac

Rapid-MLX integrations

• Claude Code
• Codex CLI
• Aider
• Cursor
• OpenCode
• OpenHands
• GitHub Copilot CLI
• Continue
• Open WebUI
• SillyTavern
• LangChain
• Hugging Face

How to get started with Rapid-MLX

1. Install with curl -fsSL https://rapidmlx.com/install.sh | bash, brew install rapid-mlx, or pip install rapid-mlx.
2. Run rapid-mlx serve qwen3.5-4b-4bit, and the model downloads on first use.
3. Point an OpenAI client at http://localhost:8000/v1, or Claude Code at http://localhost:8000.
4. Or run rapid-mlx launch to start a supported coding agent already wired to the local model.
5. Prefer a window? Download the Mac app, pick a model from the built-in library and start chatting or dictating.

Rapid-MLX limitations

• Requires an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer) running macOS 14 or later; Intel Macs are not supported
• Large models need a lot of memory, and some listed models need a 192 GB or larger Mac
• Cursor needs an HTTPS tunnel to reach the local server
• The desktop app sends anonymous usage stats by default, which you can turn off
• Online tools inside the app send requests to their own services

Rapid-MLX pricing

Rapid-MLX is open source, so you can use and self-host it for free.

Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Rapid-MLX alternatives

The main Rapid-MLX alternatives listed on Debuly are LM Studio, Ollama, llama.cpp, Jan, Msty and TextGen (Text Generation Web UI). The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

1. 

   Jan

   Free, open-source desktop AI assistant that runs models offline on your computer or connects to cloud models with your own keys.

   Chat assistantsDeveloper platforms
   Open sourceVisit Jan (official site)
2. 

   llama.cpp

   Open-source engine and desktop app for running LLMs locally, with a built-in OpenAI-compatible API server and web chat UI.

   Developer platformsCodingChat assistants
   Open sourceVisit llama.cpp (official site)
3. 

   LM Studio

   Desktop app for running open language models on your own computer, now with the Bionic agent, a local API and optional US-hosted cloud models.

   Chat assistantsDeveloper platformsCodingProductivity
   FreemiumVisit LM Studio (official site)
4. 

   Msty

   Privacy-first AI workspace for chatting with local and online models, with a model gateway, agents and knowledge stacks.

   Chat assistantsAutomation and agentsDeveloper platforms
   FreemiumVisit Msty (official site)
5. 

   Ollama

   Open-source app and CLI for running open AI models locally on macOS, Windows and Linux, with optional paid cloud models.

   Developer platformsCodingChat assistants
   Open sourceVisit Ollama (official site)
6. TT

   TextGen (Text Generation Web UI)

   Open-source desktop and web app for running large language models locally, with chat, vision, tools and an OpenAI-style API.

   Developer platformsChat assistants
   Open sourceVisit TextGen (Text Generation Web UI) (official site)

Rapid-MLX FAQ

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

Image credits

• Logo: from rapidmlx.com · fetched 24 Oct 2026 · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
• Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

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