This article was originally published on runaihome.com

Every "best local AI model" article skips the question that actually matters: best for

what VRAM. A model that runs beautifully on a 4090 is irrelevant to someone with a

laptop iGPU; a model that fits on 6 GB is left on the table by people with 24 GB to spare.

This guide goes by tier, listing the practical best-in-class picks for language, image, and