head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs Sidekick
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars, 22,301 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped today. Sidekick has 3,312 stars, 148 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 4,502% (152,426 vs 3,312 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Sidekick is written in Swift under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Sidekick 4%. Open WebUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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 | Sidekick | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 148 |
| 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 Sidekick if
- You want the Sidekick feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Sidekick 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 Sidekick
Sidekick Chat with a local LLM that can respond with information from your files, folders and websites on your Mac without installing any other software. All conversations happen offline, and your data stays secure. Sidekick is a local first application –– with a built in inference engine for local models, while accommodating OpenAI compatible APIs for additional model options. Sidekick supports modern GGUF local models such as Qwen3.5 out of the box through its built in llama.cpp backend. Example Use Let’s say you're collecting evidence for a History paper about interactions between Aztecs and Spanish troops, an…
read the full Sidekick overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or Sidekick more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,426 GitHub stars and Sidekick has 3,312. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and Sidekick free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and Sidekick is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and Sidekick?
Open WebUI is written in Python and Sidekick in Swift. 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 Sidekick?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,426 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Sidekick if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.