head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs HuixiangDou
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars, 22,301 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HuixiangDou has 2,501 stars, 179 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 5,995% (152,426 vs 2,501 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; HuixiangDou is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, HuixiangDou 7%. 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 (llm, rag), 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 | HuixiangDou | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Custom / other | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-11-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 179 |
| 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 HuixiangDou if
- You want the HuixiangDou feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and HuixiangDou 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 HuixiangDou
HuixiangDou is a Python, BSD 3 Clause licensed LLM based professional knowledge assistant that answers technical questions inside group chats such as WeChat and Feishu/Lark without flooding the channel with messages, and it is built for teams that maintain an internal or public facing support knowledge base.
read the full HuixiangDou overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or HuixiangDou more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars and HuixiangDou has 2,501. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and HuixiangDou free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and HuixiangDou is licensed under BSD-3-Clause. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and HuixiangDou?
Open WebUI is written in Python and HuixiangDou in Python. 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 HuixiangDou?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,426 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose HuixiangDou if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.