head to head · open source
Dify vs Open WebUI
Dify has 156,215 GitHub stars, 24,668 forks, 1,067 open issues and last shipped today. Open WebUI has 152,426 stars, 22,301 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped today. Dify leads on adoption by 2% (156,215 vs 152,426 stars). Dify is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence. Dify has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Open WebUI 15%. Dify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, llm), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Dify | Open WebUI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 156K | ★ 152K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 22K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dify if
- You weight community size — 156K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Open WebUI if
- You want the Open WebUI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Open WebUI fits your workflow better
About Dify
Dify is an open source LLM application development platform built in TypeScript. It provides a visual interface for designing, testing, and deploying AI workflows, RAG pipelines, and agentic systems without writing extensive code. The platform lives in the generative AI development ecosystem and targets teams needing to move from prototype to production using consistent tooling across environments.
About Open WebUI
Open WebUI is a self hosted, open source AI interface that unifies access to local and cloud based large language models. It runs entirely in a web browser and supports Ollama for local model hosting alongside any OpenAI compatible API, including services like LMStudio, GroqCloud, Mistral, and OpenRouter. Built in Python, it functions as a drop in replacement for proprietary AI platforms, giving users full control over their model infrastructure and data.
read the full Open WebUI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dify or Open WebUI more popular?
Dify has 156,215 GitHub stars and Open WebUI has 152,426. Dify has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dify and Open WebUI free?
Neither Dify nor Open WebUI declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Dify and Open WebUI?
Dify is written in TypeScript and Open WebUI in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Dify or Open WebUI?
Choose Dify if you want the larger community (156,215 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Open WebUI if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.