head to head · open source
Open WebUI vs wisp-science
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars, 22,923 forks, 294 open issues and last shipped yesterday. wisp-science has 1,062 stars, 108 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open WebUI leads on adoption by 14,738% (157,575 vs 1,062 stars). Open WebUI is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; wisp-science is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. Open WebUI has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, wisp-science 10%. Open WebUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | wisp-science | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 158K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 23K | ⑂ 108 |
| 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 wisp-science if
- You want the wisp-science feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and wisp-science 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 wisp-science
Wisp Science The open source, local first AI research workbench. WISP — Workspace for Intelligent Scientific Practice English · 简体中文 · Website · Releases Search the literature, run Python and R, query 80 scientific databases, and keep the trail — figures, runs, decisions, and drafts — in one project. Your data, conversations, and credentials stay on your machines. Bring your own model. Keep your science. What you can do An agent that does the work Bring OpenAI compatible or Anthropic models, or drive Codex / Claude Code over ACP. The agent reads and writes project files, runs shell, and loads reusable Skills (…
read the full wisp-science overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open WebUI or wisp-science more popular?
Open WebUI has 157,575 GitHub stars and wisp-science has 1,062. Open WebUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open WebUI and wisp-science free?
Both are open source. Open WebUI has no licence declared in this registry, and wisp-science is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open WebUI and wisp-science?
Open WebUI is written in Python and wisp-science in Rust. 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 wisp-science?
Choose Open WebUI if you want the larger community (157,575 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose wisp-science if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.