head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs waku-agent
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars, 22,296 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. waku-agent has 1,776 stars, 353 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 8,481% (152,394 vs 1,776 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; waku-agent is written in Python under MIT. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, waku-agent 20%. waku-agent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (llm, 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 | waku-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 152K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 22K | ⑂ 353 |
| 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 waku-agent if
- You want the waku-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and waku-agent 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 waku-agent
waku agent is a local first, MIT licensed Python AI agent harness for developers who want an assistant whose loop, memory and evaluation code they can read and own, rather than a hosted assistant that keeps those parts out of sight.
read the full waku-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or waku-agent more popular?
Open WebUI has 152,394 GitHub stars and waku-agent has 1,776. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and waku-agent free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and waku-agent is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and waku-agent?
Open WebUI is written in Python and waku-agent 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 waku-agent?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (152,394 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose waku-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.