Available Distributions

Llama Stack provides several pre-configured distributions to help you get started quickly. Choose the distribution that best fits your hardware and use case.

Quick Reference

Distribution	Use Case	Hardware Requirements	Provider
distribution-starter	General purpose, prototyping	Any (CPU/GPU)	Ollama, Remote APIs
distribution-meta-reference-gpu	High-performance inference	GPU required	Local GPU inference
Remote-hosted	Production, managed service	None	Partner providers
iOS/Android SDK	Mobile applications	Mobile device	On-device inference

Choose Your Distribution

🚀 Getting Started (Recommended for Beginners)

Use distribution-starter if you want to:

• Prototype quickly without GPU requirements

• Use remote inference providers (Fireworks, Together, vLLM etc.)

• Run locally with Ollama for development

docker pull llama-stack/distribution-starter

Guides: Starter Distribution Guide

🖥️ Self-Hosted with GPU

Use distribution-meta-reference-gpu if you:

• Have access to GPU hardware

• Want maximum performance and control

• Need to run inference locally

docker pull llama-stack/distribution-meta-reference-gpu

Guides: Meta Reference GPU Guide

🖥️ Self-Hosted with NVIDA NeMo Microservices

Use nvidia if you:

• Want to use Llama Stack with NVIDIA NeMo Microservices

Guides: NVIDIA Distribution Guide

☁️ Managed Hosting

Use remote-hosted endpoints if you:

• Don’t want to manage infrastructure

• Need production-ready reliability

• Prefer managed services

Partners: Fireworks.ai and Together.xyz

Guides: Remote-Hosted Endpoints

📱 Mobile Development

Use mobile SDKs if you:

• Are building iOS or Android applications

• Need on-device inference capabilities

• Want offline functionality

• iOS SDK

• Android SDK

🔧 Custom Solutions

Build your own distribution if:

• None of the above fit your specific needs

• You need custom configurations

• You want to optimize for your specific use case

Guides: Building Custom Distributions

Detailed Documentation

Self-Hosted Distributions

• Starter Distribution
• Meta Reference Distribution

Remote-Hosted Solutions

• Remote-Hosted Distributions

Mobile SDKs

• iOS SDK
• Llama Stack Client Kotlin API Library

Decision Flow

graph TD
    A[What's your use case?] --> B{Need mobile app?}
    B -->|Yes| C[Use Mobile SDKs]
    B -->|No| D{Have GPU hardware?}
    D -->|Yes| E[Use Meta Reference GPU]
    D -->|No| F{Want managed hosting?}
    F -->|Yes| G[Use Remote-Hosted]
    F -->|No| H[Use Starter Distribution]

Next Steps

1. Choose your distribution from the options above

2. Follow the setup guide for your selected distribution

3. Configure your providers with API keys or local models

4. Start building with Llama Stack!

For help choosing or troubleshooting, check our Getting Started Guide or Community Support.