head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs vellum-assistant
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vellum-assistant has 1,470 stars, 229 forks, 179 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 10,619% (157,575 vs 1,470 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; vellum-assistant is written in TypeScript under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, vellum-assistant 16%. vellum-assistant was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | vellum-assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 158K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 229 |
| 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 vellum-assistant if
- You want the vellum-assistant feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and vellum-assistant 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 vellum-assistant
A personal AI assistant that evolves with you. 8 different types of memory (episodic, semantic, procedural, emotional, prospective, behavioral, narrative, shared) make it truly yours. It learns how you work, remembers what matters, and takes action across your apps. What It Does If you've set up a Personal AI on OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, or Claude Code, you know how long it takes, and how many times you have to hatch a new one to get it right. Vellum gets you the result you're looking for out of the box, one download away. Get Started 1. Sign up or download the app The desktop app is available for macOS and…
read the full vellum-assistant overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or vellum-assistant more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and vellum-assistant has 1,470. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and vellum-assistant free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and vellum-assistant is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and vellum-assistant?
Open WebUI is written in Python and vellum-assistant 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 vellum-assistant?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose vellum-assistant if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.