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ruGPT-3.5

Sber's 13-billion-parameter base Russian model; GigaChat grew out of its fine-tuned version. Continues texts in Russian and English, context only 2048 tokens; today useful as a base for narrow fine-tuning.

The last open version came out in Jul 2023. The family has not been updated for a long time: the model still works, but do not expect fixes or new sizes.

Developer
Sber (ai-forever), Russia
First release
Jul 2023
Latest release
Jul 2023
Sizes
13B
License
Commercial use allowedMIT
Russian
Supported
Ready-made builds
GGUF
Running
On your own serverNeeds a GPU
Industries
Marketing and content, Media and production
Deploy on your server Hugging Face GitHub

What it does

  • Base for fine-tuning on a narrow Russian-language task
  • Generating template Russian texts
  • Experiments with Russian-language models without license restrictions

Where it is used

IT departments and R&DContent teamsEducation

Hardware requirements

LaptopLaptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions
no versions
1 GPUOne GPU with 16–80 GB — mid-size versions
fits
ClusterServer with several GPUs — flagship versions
no versions

Versions

  1. ruGPT-3.5 13B

How to run it

On your own serverWeights are downloaded from Hugging Face and served with vLLM (load and API) or llama.cpp (modest hardware). The model then runs in a closed network with no per-request fees.Hugging Face
How much hardware you needCalculate the VRAM for the model size, context length and number of concurrent requests.Open the hardware calculator

I can set this up end to end: pick the model size, deploy it on your server and connect it to your systems. Quantization compresses a model so it takes less video memory and runs on more modest hardware. Answers change slightly, so quality is checked on your own examples.

Frequently asked questions

Can ruGPT-3.5 be used in a commercial project?

Yes. License: MIT. It allows commercial use, but it is still worth having a lawyer review the license before launch.

What hardware does ruGPT-3.5 need?

At minimum: One GPU with 16–80 GB — mid-size versions. Without a GPU the model is not practical. You can calculate the exact VRAM for your model size and context in the hardware calculator.

Does ruGPT-3.5 support Russian?

Yes, Russian is listed on the model card.

Where can I download ruGPT-3.5 and what does it cost?

The ruGPT-3.5 weights are open and free to download. You only pay for the hardware it runs on and for the setup. Source links are at the bottom of this page.

How I deploy it for clients

  1. SelectionI pick the model size for your task and hardware and test it on your examples.
  2. DeploymentI deploy it on your server or in a closed network and provide an API.
  3. Fine-tuningI fine-tune it on your data (LoRA) or connect a knowledge base — whichever is cheaper for the task.
  4. IntegrationI connect it to your CRM, ERP, bot, website or team chat and set up monitoring.

Similar models

TextGigaChatSber · RussiaCommercial use allowed

Sber open models with strong Russian language support and local context, from 10B-A1.8B to 702B, all MIT. GigaChat3.1-Audio handles recordings up to two hours; GFusion is a fast diffusion text version.

DetailsTextmGPTSber (ai-forever) · RussiaCommercial use allowed

Sber's multilingual model covering 61 languages, including languages of the peoples of Russia and the CIS. Separate fine-tunes exist for Buryat, Yakut, Tatar, Bashkir, Kazakh and others, rare for open models.

DetailsTextSaigaIlya Gusev (IlyaGusev) · RussiaCommercial use with conditions

The best-known Russian community fine-tune: open models (Llama, Mistral, Gemma, YandexGPT) trained to act as a Russian-speaking assistant. A convenient starting point for a Russian chatbot on your own server.

Details

Source: huggingface.co/ai-forever/ruGPT-3.5-13B. Data checked against the model card on 22 Sep 2026. Have a lawyer review the license before commercial launch.