head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs catai
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars, 22,301 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped today. catai has 500 stars, 39 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 30,385% (152,426 vs 500 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; catai is written in TypeScript under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, catai 8%. Open WebUI 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
| Open WebUI | catai | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 500 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-11-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 39 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open WebUI if
- You weight community size — 152K 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 catai if
- You want the catai feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and catai fits your workflow better
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 →
About catai
Catai 🚀 Exciting Updates Coming Soon! New UI , Function Calling , and more amazing features are on the way! Stay tuned for updates. Run GGUF models on your computer with a chat ui. Your own AI assistant runs locally on your computer. Inspired by Node Llama Cpp, Llama.cpp Installation & Use Make sure you have Node.js ( download current ) installed. Features Auto detect programming language 🧑💻 Click on user icon to show original message 💬 Real time text streaming ⏱️ Fast model downloads 🚀 CLI Install command Cross platform You can use it on Windows, Linux and Mac. This package uses node llama cpp which suppor…
read the full catai overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or catai more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars and catai has 500. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and catai free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and catai is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and catai?
Open WebUI is written in Python and catai 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 catai?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,426 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose catai if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.