head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs rikkahub
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars, 22,296 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rikkahub has 7,686 stars, 683 forks, 282 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 1,883% (152,394 vs 7,686 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; rikkahub is written in Kotlin under AGPL-3.0. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, rikkahub 9%. rikkahub was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (llm-ui, 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 | rikkahub | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 7.7K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 683 |
| 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 rikkahub if
- You want the rikkahub feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and rikkahub 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 rikkahub
RikkaHub is a native Android LLM chat client, written in Kotlin and released under the AGPL 3.0 licence, that lets a single user switch between different AI providers inside the same conversation.
read the full rikkahub overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or rikkahub more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars and rikkahub has 7,686. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and rikkahub free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and rikkahub is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and rikkahub?
Open WebUI is written in Python and rikkahub in Kotlin. 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 rikkahub?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,394 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose rikkahub if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.