other
20B parameters
Commercial OK
Reviewed May 2026

GPT-NeoX 20B

GPT-NeoX-20B is a 20B-parameter English autoregressive model from EleutherAI, trained on the 825 GiB Pile dataset. It uses a GPT-3-style transformer architecture and ships under Apache 2.0. There is no instruction tuning or chat fine-tuning — this is a raw base model.

License: apache-2.0·Context: 2,048 tokens
BLK · VERDICT

Our verdict

OP · Fredoline Eruo|VERIFIED MAY 28, 2026
9.1/10

If you're in the Korean hub looking for a production-ready or conversational model, skip this — it has zero Korean language support and no instruction tuning. The 2048-token context and age of the model (2022) mean newer alternatives outperform it with less VRAM. It still has value as a fine-tuning base if you specifically need an Apache-licensed 20B English foundation, but that's a narrow use case. Hedge: only worth the ~40 GB VRAM if you have a specific fine-tuning experiment in mind.

Why this rating

Auto-generated rating (Opus 4.7 judge, claude-opus-4-7). Overall 9.10/10. License (Apache 2.0) is explicitly verified in the HF card with commercial use permitted. Metadata (20B params, 2048 context, EleutherAI vendor, GPT-NeoX architecture) all match the model card precisely. The description and verdict are honest, operator-voiced, and correctly flag this as a base model with no Korean support and outdated context length. The useCases tag listing 'korean' is contradictory with the row's own honest assessment that it has zero Korean capability — this is a real concern but the verdict explicitly warns Korean-hub readers away, which is the right editorial call. Brand fit is moderate: a 2022-era 40GB English base model is niche for local-AI builders, but the row honestly scopes it to fine-tuning research.

Flags: - useCases includes 'korean' which directly contradicts the row's own weakness ('English-only — no Korean language capability') — should be removed - Narrow practical audience: most runlocalai readers won't fine-tune a 20B base model; verdict appropriately hedges this

Overview

GPT-NeoX-20B is a 20B-parameter English autoregressive model from EleutherAI, trained on the 825 GiB Pile dataset. It uses a GPT-3-style transformer architecture and ships under Apache 2.0. There is no instruction tuning or chat fine-tuning — this is a raw base model.

Strengths

  • 20B parameters with broad English knowledge from the Pile dataset
  • Apache 2.0 license — commercial use permitted with no restrictions
  • Reasonable zero-shot NLP benchmark performance for a 2021-era open model
  • Well-documented and widely tested; 582k+ HF downloads

Weaknesses

  • English-only — no Korean language capability
  • 2048-token context is short by current standards
  • No instruction following or chat alignment — requires prompting expertise or fine-tuning
  • Largely superseded by newer open models at similar or smaller parameter counts

Quantization variants

Each quantization trades model quality for file size and VRAM. Q4_K_M is the most popular starting point.

QuantizationFile sizeVRAM required
Q4_K_M11.0 GB14 GB

Get the model

HuggingFace

Original weights

huggingface.co/EleutherAI/gpt-neox-20b

Source repository — direct quantization required.

Hardware that runs this

Cards with enough VRAM for at least one quantization of GPT-NeoX 20B.

Compare alternatives

Models worth comparing

Same parameter band, plus what's one tier above and below — so you can decide what actually fits your hardware.

Frequently asked

What's the minimum VRAM to run GPT-NeoX 20B?

14GB of VRAM is enough to run GPT-NeoX 20B at the Q4_K_M quantization (file size 11.0 GB). Higher-quality quantizations need more.

Can I use GPT-NeoX 20B commercially?

Yes — GPT-NeoX 20B ships under the apache-2.0, which permits commercial use. Always read the license text before deployment.

What's the context length of GPT-NeoX 20B?

GPT-NeoX 20B supports a context window of 2,048 tokens (about 2K).

Source: huggingface.co/EleutherAI/gpt-neox-20b

Reviewed by RunLocalAI Editorial. See our editorial policy for how we research and verify model claims.

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Before you buy

Verify GPT-NeoX 20B runs on your specific hardware before committing money.