head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs LocalAI
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LocalAI has 50,140 stars, 4,569 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 214% (157,575 vs 50,140 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 | ★ 158K | ★ 50K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 4.6K |
| 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 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 👋 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 LocalAI
Deutsch Español français 日本語 한국어 Português Русский 中文 LocalAI is the open source AI engine. Run any model LLMs, vision, voice, image, video on any hardware. No GPU required. A small core, not a bundle. Each backend wraps a best in class engine (llama.cpp, vLLM, whisper.cpp, stable diffusion, MLX...) in its own image, pulled only when a model needs it. You install nothing you don't use. Composable by design : backends are separate and pulled on demand, so you install only what your model needs Open and extensible : load any model, or build your own backend in any language against an open interface Drop in API…
read the full LocalAI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or LocalAI more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and LocalAI has 50,140. 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 (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose LocalAI if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.