head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs ChatUI
Open WebUI has 157,498 GitHub stars, 22,901 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ChatUI has 4,463 stars, 426 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 3,429% (157,498 vs 4,463 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; ChatUI is written in TypeScript under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, ChatUI 10%. Open WebUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Open WebUI | ChatUI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 157K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 426 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open WebUI if
- You weight community size — 157K 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 ChatUI if
- You want the ChatUI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and ChatUI 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 ChatUI
The UI design language and React library for Conversational UI Website： English 简体中文 Features 😎 Best Practices : The best practice for chat interaction based on our experience of Alime Chatbot 🛡 TypeScript : Written in TypeScript with predictable static types 📱 Responsive : Responsive design to adapt automatically to whatever device ♿ Accessibility : Accessibility support and get the certification from Accessibility Research Association 🎨 Theming : Powerful theme customization in every detail 🌍 International : Internationalization support for dozens of languages Environment Support Modern browsers (support…
read the full ChatUI overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Interaction & Interfaces projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Interaction & Interfaces field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or ChatUI more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,498 GitHub stars and ChatUI has 4,463. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and ChatUI free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and ChatUI is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and ChatUI?
Open WebUI is written in Python and ChatUI 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 ChatUI?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,498 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ChatUI if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.