head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs LocalAI
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars, 22,301 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped today. LocalAI has 49,147 stars, 4,457 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped today. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 210% (152,426 vs 49,147 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; LocalAI is written in Go under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, LocalAI 9%. LocalAI 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, mcp), 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 | LocalAI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 49K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 4.5K |
| 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 LocalAI if
- You want the LocalAI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and LocalAI 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 LocalAI
LocalAI is an open source AI runtime that enables running large language models (LLMs), vision, audio, image, and video models locally or on premises. It operates as a modular engine where each model type is backed by a dedicated, lightweight backend—such as llama.cpp, whisper.cpp, or stable diffusion—pulled only when needed. This composable architecture avoids bundling unnecessary dependencies, keeping the core minimal while supporting diverse modalities and hardware configurations.
read the full LocalAI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or LocalAI more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars and LocalAI has 49,147. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and LocalAI free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and LocalAI is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and LocalAI?
Open WebUI is written in Python and LocalAI in Go. 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 LocalAI?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,426 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose LocalAI if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.