Now that Ollama is installed, it’s time to download the models your agent will use. These models run entirely on your machine — no cloud, no API keys, no external dependencies.
Once Ollama is installed, the next step is choosing the models that will power your local‑first AI experience. Every model you download runs entirely on your machine — no cloud, no API keys, no data leaving your device. This page helps you pick the right models for your hardware and your goals, whether you're exploring Llama 3 for reasoning, Mistral for balanced performance, or Phi for ultra‑fast experimentation.
All models listed here come from the official Ollama Model Library, which provides trusted, optimized versions of today’s leading open‑source LLMs.
These models are widely used across the local AI community and offer a strong balance of speed, reasoning, and memory usage. They’re ideal for benchmarking, early agent development, and understanding how different architectures behave on your hardware.
| Model | Strengths | Size |
|---|---|---|
| llama3 | General reasoning, coding, writing | ~4–8 GB |
| qwen | Fast, efficient, excellent for tool‑use | ~2–7 GB |
| mistral | Balanced performance, strong reasoning | ~4–7 GB |
| phi | Very small, extremely fast | ~1–2 GB |
| deepseek | High‑performance reasoning | ~7–10 GB |
You don’t need all of them — but downloading at least two gives you a meaningful comparison when you begin benchmarking and building your first agent.
Every model in Ollama is installed with a single command. Run any of these in your terminal:
Ollama will download the model, verify it, and store it locally. Once downloaded, models load instantly — even offline.
To confirm which models are installed, list them with:
You should see output similar to:
If a model appears in this list, it’s ready to run immediately.
Different models shine on different hardware. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose the best fit:
If you have 8 GB RAM or less:
If you have 16 GB RAM:
If you have 32 GB+ RAM:
For deeper comparisons, the open‑source community maintains excellent benchmarks on Hugging Face’s Open LLM Leaderboard .
Download is slow
“Error pulling model”
ollama serveDisk space issues
ollama rm modelname
Next Step
Benchmark Your Models →