head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs LobeChat
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LobeChat has 83,716 stars, 16,033 forks, 922 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 88% (157,575 vs 83,716 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; LobeChat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, LobeChat 19%. LobeChat 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 | LobeChat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 158K | ★ 84K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 16K |
| 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 LobeChat if
- You want the LobeChat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and LobeChat 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 LobeChat
[![][image banner]][vercel link] LobeHub LobeHub organizes your agents into 7×24 operation. It hires, schedules, reports on your entire AI team. You stay in charge — without staying online. English · 简体中文 · [Official Site][official site] · [Changelog][changelog] · [Documents][docs] · [Blog][blog] · [Feedback][github issues link] [![][github release shield]][github release link] [![][docker release shield]][docker release link] [![][vercel shield]][vercel link] [![][discord shield]][discord link] [![][codecov shield]][codecov link] [![][github action test shield]][github action test link] [![][github action…
read the full LobeChat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or LobeChat more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and LobeChat has 83,716. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and LobeChat free?
Neither Open WebUI nor LobeChat 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 Open WebUI and LobeChat?
Open WebUI is written in Python and LobeChat 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 LobeChat?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose LobeChat if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.