Open-weight chat
Llama (large)
Best for: Self-hosted assistants on servers
Large versions need data-centre GPUs; available through many cloud providers.
Open weightsAPI
🇺🇸 United States · USA
Meta (Llama) models explained
Meta releases the Llama family as open-weight models that anyone can download under Meta’s licence, and uses them in the Meta AI assistant across WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.
All model families
Open-weight chat
Llama (small)
Best for: Laptops, phones and edge devices
Compact versions that run locally with Ollama or LM Studio.
Open weights
Text + image
Llama vision / multimodal
Best for: Understanding images and documents
Versions that accept images as input.
Open weights
Assistant
Meta AI
Best for: Chat inside WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger
Meta’s consumer assistant built on Llama.
App
Model names and versions change often. Check the official documentation for the newest releases.
⚡ Which model should you use?
- Try Meta AI inside WhatsApp for casual use.
- Developers: pick the smallest Llama that meets your quality bar and run it locally or in the cloud.
Data, privacy and your region
US providers offer business and enterprise plans with data-processing agreements, and some offer regional data residency (including in the EU/UK). Check the plan’s data-use and retention settings before sharing sensitive information. Check Meta’s licence terms for commercial use.
Frequently asked questions
Is Llama open source?
Llama models are open-weight — you can download and run them — under Meta’s own licence, which has some conditions for very large companies and certain uses.