Open Source • Kubernetes Native • v0.4.8 • Multi-GPU Support • Helm Chart Available ⎈

Run production LLMs for $0.01 per job

We analyzed 200 GitHub issues with a 14B model on two $400 GPUs. Total cost: one cent. LLMKube makes self-hosted inference actually work on hardware you can afford.

20x cheaper than cloud GPUs • Works on consumer hardware • Kubernetes-native

See it in action

Deploy an LLM with familiar kubectl commands

terminal
$ kubectl apply -f model.yaml
model.inference.llmkube.dev/phi-3-mini created
Step 1/4: Deploy a model definition

Why LLMKube?

Local LLMs are great for prototyping. Scaling them for a team is where it gets hard.

The Scaling Challenge

  • Silent failures with no alerts
  • Multi-GPU memory math by trial and error
  • Updates that break your setup
  • Docker Compose that doesn't scale
  • One person managing everything
  • Every machine set up by hand
Sound familiar? You're not alone.

With LLMKube

  • Health checks that actually tell you when things break
  • Automatic GPU memory management
  • Helm-pinned versions that don't break on update
  • Infrastructure as code, not scripts and duct tape
  • Your whole team can deploy and manage
  • Prometheus alerts before users notice
⏱️ 30 seconds to deploy • 😎 100% reproducible

Ollama for dev. vLLM for speed. LLMKube for production.

The platform layer your inference engine is missing

How it works

The init container pattern: Separate model management from serving

LLMKube Architecture

Control Planekubectl /GitOpsAPI ServerModel ControllerService ControllerData PlaneStoragePod 1Pod 2Pod 3Service / API Clients

Click on any component to learn more about it

User Interface
Controllers
Runtime
Clients

💡 Innovation: Init Container Pattern

LLMKube uses Kubernetes init containers to separate model downloading from serving. This means:

  • Fast cold starts: Models are cached in persistent storage
  • Separation of concerns: Download logic separate from inference logic
  • Kubernetes-native: Uses standard patterns that platform engineers already know

Production-validated performance

Real benchmarks from GKE deployments - CPU and GPU

CPU Baseline

Cost-Effective

Configuration

Model:
TinyLlama 1.1B Q4_K_M
Platform:
GKE n2-standard-2
Model Size:
637.8 MiB

Performance

Token Generation:
~18.5 tok/s
Prompt Processing:
~29 tok/s
Response Time:
~1.5s (P50)
Cold Start:
~5s

GPU Accelerated

17x Faster

Configuration

Model:
Llama 3.2 3B Q8_0
Platform:
GKE + NVIDIA L4 GPU
Model Size:
3.2 GiB
GPU Layers:
29/29 (100%)

Performance

Token Generation:
~64 tok/s
Prompt Processing:
~1,026 tok/s
Response Time:
~0.6s
GPU Memory:
4.2 GB VRAM
Power Usage:
~35W
Temperature:
56-58°C

Production Ready: GPU acceleration delivers 17x faster inference with full observability (Prometheus + Grafana + DCGM metrics). Both CPU and GPU deployments are production-ready with comprehensive monitoring and SLO alerts.

Production-grade LLM orchestration

Everything you need to run local AI workloads at scale, with the operational rigor of modern microservices

New in v0.3.0

Reproducible Deployments

Helm chart with pinned versions. No more "update broke my setup." Deploy the same config across dev, staging, and prod.

helm install llmkube charts/llmkube
New in v0.3.0

Local Testing with Metal

Test GPU-accelerated inference locally on Apple Silicon Macs with Metal support. Run on Minikube in under 10 minutes.

Apple M1/M2/M3/M4 GPU acceleration
No cloud resources needed
Available Now

GPU Acceleration

Production-ready GPU inference with NVIDIA CUDA support. Achieve 17x faster inference with automatic GPU layer offloading.

Speed: 64 tok/s vs 4.6 tok/s CPU
Response Time: 0.6s vs 10.3s CPU
New in v0.4.8

Multi-GPU Without the Math

Stop guessing at VRAM. Deploy 70B+ models across GPUs with automatic layer sharding. No trial-and-error memory tuning.

13B on 2x GPUs: ~44 tok/s
Memory: Automatic calculation

Kubernetes Native

Deploy LLMs using familiar kubectl commands and YAML manifests. Integrates seamlessly with your existing K8s infrastructure and GitOps workflows.

Air-Gap Ready

Run LLMs in completely disconnected environments. Perfect for defense, healthcare, and regulated industries that can't use cloud APIs.

Available Now

Know When Models Die

No more silent failures. Prometheus alerts, Grafana dashboards, and DCGM GPU metrics tell you something's wrong before users notice.

Coming Soon

Edge Optimized

Distribute inference across edge nodes with intelligent scheduling. Model sharding for efficient resource utilization.

Coming Soon

SLO Enforcement

Define and enforce latency targets, quality thresholds, and performance SLAs. Self-healing controllers keep your services running.

OpenAI Compatible

Drop-in replacement for OpenAI API endpoints. Use existing tools and libraries without code changes.

Deploy an LLM in seconds

Simple, declarative YAML that feels native to Kubernetes developers

apiVersion: inference.llmkube.dev/v1alpha1
kind: Model
metadata:
  name: phi-3-mini
spec:
  source: https://huggingface.co/microsoft/Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct-gguf/resolve/main/Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct-q4.gguf
  format: gguf
  quantization: Q4_K_M
  hardware:
    accelerator: cuda
    gpu:
      enabled: true
      count: 1
  resources:
    cpu: "2"
    memory: "4Gi"
💡 Tip: Supports GGUF models from HuggingFace, with automatic download and caching
100%
Open Source
Zero
Data Exfiltration
<2s
P99 Latency Target

Built for real-world deployments

From air-gapped data centers to distributed edge networks

🛡️

Defense & Government

Deploy classified AI assistants in SCIF environments with TEE support and attestation. Meet CMMC and FedRAMP requirements.

  • Air-gapped deployment
  • Complete audit logs
  • Zero external dependencies
🏥

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Run HIPAA-compliant AI assistants for clinical decision support without sending PHI to external APIs.

  • HIPAA compliant
  • PII detection with eBPF
  • On-premises deployment
🏭

Manufacturing & Industrial

Deploy AI assistants on factory floors with poor connectivity. Distributed inference across edge devices.

  • Offline-first operation
  • Low-latency edge inference
  • Resource-constrained optimization
💰

Financial Services

Run AI models in regulated environments with complete data sovereignty and compliance guarantees.

  • Data sovereignty
  • Compliance-ready logging
  • High availability SLAs
Limited to 10 Teams

Early Adopter Program

Help shape the future of LLMKube and get direct access to the maintainer.

What You Get

  • Private Discord with other early adopters
  • Direct input on the roadmap
  • Your logo on our website (when ready)
  • Early access to new features

What We Need

  • Real-world feedback on your use case
  • 30 minutes monthly for a feedback call
  • Permission to share your story (anonymized if needed)

Apply to Join

Ready to deploy your first LLM?

Join the growing community of developers and enterprises running production AI workloads on LLMKube

Open source and free forever • Enterprise support coming soon