Local AI
A live ranking of open-weight models for English writing, with quantization filters and practical memory guidance.
Insights
Data-led investigations into how models, generation settings and evaluation protocols affect writing quality.
Does AI write better in English with or without reasoning?
Same file, same prompts, one switch. Across 21 local models, reasoning adds 33.6 points on average for the Qwen family and 10.6 for the larger Gemma 4 models; the small Gemma E2B and E4B builds gain almost nothing and sometimes lose.
Q4, Q6 or Q8: what quantization does to writing quality
Sometimes nothing, sometimes 20 points. On English prompts Qwen3.8 27B writes as well at Q4_K_M as at Q8_0 with a file half the size; Granite 4.2 30B loses 20 points between Q8 and Q4. The rule of thumb is: there is no rule of thumb.
Muse Glimmer 30B writing test: how it compares to local rivals
Updated with 1,500 ranked duels per build and language. The K-Quant Dynamic build is the best local model for English writing at 77.6 points; in French, German and Spanish the smaller 17GB build is the one to download.
Do AI judges prefer their own model?
Two of our five judges give their own model a clear bonus: GPT-5.6 Sol awards its own texts up to 21 points more than the other judges do, Claude Opus 5 up to 11. The two Fable judges do the opposite and mark their own model down.
How much do the AI judges agree with each other?
Claude Opus 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol, who supply most verdicts, point the same way on about nine model pairs out of ten. The disagreements are elsewhere: Sol almost never calls a tie, Claude Fable 5.1 does so up to one time in six, and Claude Opus 4.8 sides with the others only two times in three.
One model, four languages, four different ranks
Ninety-one models are ranked in all four languages. The top three barely move: Claude Opus 5, Claude Fable 5 and Claude Fable 5.1 are in the top four everywhere. Below them, GLM 5.3 Flash is 10th in English and 53rd in German, Grok 4.6 25th in English and 61st in French.