OpenCompass
Evaluation platform that benchmarks LLMs on over 70 datasets with distributed execution.
About
Backed by Shanghai AI Laboratory, OpenCompass evaluates large language models against more than 70 datasets totaling roughly 400,000 questions spanning knowledge, reasoning, language, and code. A single command splits work into subtasks and runs distributed evaluation, which is what makes billion-parameter sweeps practical, and experiments are managed through configuration files with real-time result reporting. Inference runs through HuggingFace transformers by default, with vLLM and LMDeploy as accelerated backends, and API adapters cover OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, and the major Chinese providers, so open weights and proprietary endpoints are scored under identical prompts in zero-shot, few-shot, and chain-of-thought settings. Installation is pip install opencompass, with GPU requirements set by the model being tested rather than by the framework itself. The code is Apache-2.0 licensed and free for commercial use. Its CompassRank leaderboards are among the most cited references for ranking Chinese and English models, and the modular design reduces adding a custom dataset to a small configuration exercise.
Should you use OpenCompass?
Pick it when
Pick OpenCompass when you run large benchmark sweeps across many checkpoints and need distributed execution, or when you compare Chinese and English models, including major Chinese API providers, under identical prompts.
Look elsewhere when
Skip it for quick single-model checks, where LightEval is simpler, or if you need numbers matching the Open LLM Leaderboard, which runs on lm-evaluation-harness. App-level testing belongs in DeepEval or promptfoo.
Alternatives to OpenCompass
- LM Evaluation Harness
Its prompt formats underpin Open LLM Leaderboard numbers, which matters for comparability; OpenCompass is stronger for distributed sweeps.
- LightEval
Simpler pip and CLI workflow with 1,000+ tasks and Hub result sharing; lacks the CompassRank leaderboards that OpenCompass results feed.
- HELM
Adds calibration, bias, and toxicity metrics with transparent completions, but in maintenance mode since June 2026.
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Details
- Category
- AI Observability & Evaluation
- Price
- Free
- Platform
- Local/Desktop
- Difficulty
- Intermediate (3/5)
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Added
- Jul 29, 2026