Open WebUI
Open WebUI turns a local model backend into a full, ChatGPT-style web app you host yourself. It is a popular front end for Ollama, and supports RAG over your documents, multiple users, and tool use. Because it runs as a server, it suits households or small teams sharing one machine's models.
Strengths
- Rich feature set spanning multi-user, RAG, tools, and shared workspaces
- Pairs cleanly with Ollama and other OpenAI-compatible backends
- Actively developed with a large community
Weaknesses
- Runs as a self-hosted server, so it is more to set up and maintain than a desktop app
- Recent versions add a branding-preservation clause, so it is source-available rather than fully permissive
- RAG quality still depends on the models and settings behind it
At a glance
- Licence
- Open WebUI License (source-available)
- Pricing
- Open core
- Platforms
- Docker, Web, Linux, macOS, Windows
- GPU required
- No
Links
See also
Entry last verified 30 July 2026.