head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs oterm
Open WebUI has 153,393 GitHub stars, 22,441 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped today. oterm has 2,442 stars, 138 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 6,181% (153,393 vs 2,442 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; oterm is written in Python under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, oterm 6%. Open WebUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (llm, mcp, ollama, openai), 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 | oterm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 153K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-28 | 2026-09-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 138 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open WebUI if
- You weight community size — 153K 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 oterm if
- You want the oterm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and oterm 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 oterm
oterm is the terminal client for LLMs: a Python TUI that connects one terminal interface to Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic, and any pydantic ai supported provider, aimed at developers and terminal centric teams who would rather chat with models from the command line than from a browser.
read the full oterm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or oterm more popular?
Open WebUI has 153,393 GitHub stars and oterm has 2,442. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and oterm free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and oterm is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and oterm?
Open WebUI is written in Python and oterm 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 oterm?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (153,393 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose oterm if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.