head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs mercury-agent
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mercury-agent has 3,768 stars, 388 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 4,082% (157,575 vs 3,768 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; mercury-agent is written in TypeScript under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, mercury-agent 10%. mercury-agent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), 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 | mercury-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 158K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 388 |
| 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 mercury-agent if
- You want the mercury-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and mercury-agent 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 mercury-agent
Soul driven AI agent with permission hardened tools, token budgets, and multi channel access. Remembers what matters. Asks before it acts. Runs 24/7 from CLI, Telegram, or Web. 31 built in tools, Kanban boards, extensible skills, SQLite backed Second Brain memory. 🔖 Current Stable: v1.2.3 English 简体中文 Quick Start One liner install (no Node.js required) — downloads the latest standalone binary for your OS: Or via npm if you already have Node.js 20+: Or install the npm package globally: First run triggers the setup wizard (name, provider, optional Telegram). After setup, Mercury opens the Ink TUI startup screen…
read the full mercury-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or mercury-agent more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and mercury-agent has 3,768. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and mercury-agent free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and mercury-agent is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and mercury-agent?
Open WebUI is written in Python and mercury-agent 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 mercury-agent?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose mercury-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.