head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs claude-forge
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. claude-forge has 871 stars, 183 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 17,991% (157,575 vs 871 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; claude-forge is written in Shell under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, claude-forge 21%. 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.
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Side by side
| Open WebUI | claude-forge | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 158K | ★ 871 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 183 |
| 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 claude-forge if
- You want the claude-forge feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and claude-forge 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 claude-forge
⚡ New here? Walk through setup in 60 seconds → English · 한국어 · 中文 · setup guide in 13 languages oh my zsh for Claude Code — one install, full professional kit What is it? • Why bother? • Install • What's inside • How to use • Architecture • FAQ • 한국어 v4.3.0 (September 2026, latest) — session time report now reads Codex too. Same hook, same report; it detects whether a transcript is a Claude Code transcript or a Codex rollout log and counts either. Wiring for Codex is two entries you add to /.codex/hooks.json (how). v4.2.0 (September 2026) — Adds session time report (22nd hook)…
read the full claude-forge overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or claude-forge more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and claude-forge has 871. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and claude-forge free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and claude-forge is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and claude-forge?
Open WebUI is written in Python and claude-forge in Shell. 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 claude-forge?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose claude-forge if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.