head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs Orkas
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Orkas has 7,723 stars, 482 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 1,940% (157,575 vs 7,723 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Orkas is written in JavaScript under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Orkas 6%. Open WebUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Open WebUI | Orkas | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 158K | ★ 7.7K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 482 |
| 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 Orkas if
- You want the Orkas feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Orkas 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 Orkas
Orkas Command a team of AI agents from one desktop chat — not one chatbot. Orkas is an open source, local first multi agent desktop app. Describe a goal; its Commander plans the work, handles the general parts itself, and coordinates specialist agents in parallel or in sequence. Nine specialist agents ship with the app , ready the moment you launch it, out of 30 in the marketplace. Bring your own model keys — Claude · OpenAI · Gemini · DeepSeek · Kimi · GLM · Qwen · MiniMax · Doubao. macOS · Windows · Linux. English · 简体中文 You: "Research the top 5 competitors, write it up, and turn it into a deck." Orkas: the…
read the full Orkas overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Interaction & Interfaces projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Interaction & Interfaces field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or Orkas more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and Orkas has 7,723. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and Orkas free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and Orkas is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and Orkas?
Open WebUI is written in Python and Orkas in JavaScript. 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 Orkas?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Orkas if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.