head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs QwenPaw
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars, 22,296 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. QwenPaw has 35,055 stars, 3,115 forks, 990 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 335% (152,394 vs 35,055 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; QwenPaw is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, QwenPaw 9%. QwenPaw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (llms, 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 | QwenPaw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 35K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| 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 QwenPaw if
- You want the QwenPaw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and QwenPaw 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 QwenPaw
QwenPaw is a personal AI assistant harness under the Apache 2.0 licence, aimed at people who want an LLM agent running on their own machine or in their own cloud account and reachable from the chat apps they already use.
read the full QwenPaw overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or QwenPaw more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars and QwenPaw has 35,055. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and QwenPaw free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and QwenPaw is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and QwenPaw?
Open WebUI is written in Python and QwenPaw 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 QwenPaw?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,394 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose QwenPaw if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.