head to head · open source
Dify vs Open WebUI
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars, 25,336 forks, 1,067 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI has 157,575 stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dify leads on adoption by 2% (160,251 vs 157,575 stars). Dify is written in Python 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 | ★ 160K | ★ 158K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 23K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dify if
- You weight community size — 160K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- 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 Cloud · Self hosting · Documentation · Dify edition overview Dify is an open source LLM app development platform. Its intuitive interface combines AI workflow, RAG pipeline, agent capabilities, model management, observability features (including Opik, Langfuse, and Arize Phoenix) and more, letting you quickly go from prototype to production. Here's a list of the core features: Quick start Before installing Dify, make sure your machine meets the following minimum system requirements: CPU = 2 Core RAM = 4 GiB The easiest way to start the Dify server is through Docker Compose. Before running Dify with the…
About Open WebUI
Open WebUI 👋 Open WebUI is a home for AI , a self hosted AI platform that's extensible , feature rich , user friendly, and built to run entirely offline . With support for Ollama and OpenAI compatible APIs , it gives you a powerful, provider agnostic interface for both local and cloud based models. Passionate about open source AI? Join our team → [!TIP] Looking for an Enterprise Plan? – Speak with Our Sales Team Today! For more information, be sure to check out our Open WebUI Documentation. Key Features of Open WebUI ⭐ 🚀 Effortless Setup : Install seamlessly via pip, uv, Docker, or Kubernetes (kubectl…
read the full Open WebUI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dify or Open WebUI more popular?
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars and Open WebUI has 157,575. 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 Python 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 (160,251 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.