head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs LibreChat
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LibreChat has 46,647 stars, 9,596 forks, 732 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 238% (157,575 vs 46,647 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; LibreChat is written in TypeScript under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, LibreChat 21%. LibreChat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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
| Open WebUI | LibreChat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 158K | ★ 47K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 9.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open WebUI if
- You weight community size — 158K 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 LibreChat if
- You want the LibreChat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and LibreChat fits your workflow better
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 →
About LibreChat
LibreChat English · 中文 🚀 What's New in v0.8.8 rc2 Agent run control: Interrupt an Agent before visible answer text, steer runs with files and quoted excerpts, durably queue follow ups, and recover saved partial work with Keep going or Answer now . Agent activity: Optional generated labels group reasoning and tool work, fold completed groups into live phase cards, keep generated files visible, summarize multi step phases, and show the current reasoning direction. Human in the loop Agents: Stream up to four related questions, pause for input or tool approval, and resume durably. Unified Agent Builder: Configure…
read the full LibreChat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or LibreChat more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and LibreChat has 46,647. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and LibreChat free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and LibreChat is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and LibreChat?
Open WebUI is written in Python and LibreChat in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Open WebUI or LibreChat?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose LibreChat if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.