head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs Dive
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars, 22,296 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dive has 1,827 stars, 175 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 8,241% (152,394 vs 1,827 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Dive is written in TypeScript under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Dive 10%. Open WebUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai, llm-ui, ollama), 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 | Dive | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-07-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 175 |
| 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 Dive if
- You want the Dive feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Dive 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 Dive
Dive is an open source desktop application that acts as a Model Context Protocol host for large language models that support function calling. It lives in the AI and machine learning ecosystem for AI interaction interfaces, and it is a TypeScript project under the MIT license. It connects users to ChatGPT, Anthropic, Ollama, and OpenAI compatible models while supporting MCP servers through stdio and SSE modes.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or Dive more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars and Dive has 1,827. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and Dive free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and Dive is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and Dive?
Open WebUI is written in Python and Dive 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 Dive?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,394 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Dive if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.