Open WebUI
Self-hosted chat interface for local and API models
Overview
Open WebUI (formerly Ollama WebUI) is a self-hosted, ChatGPT-style interface for local and remote models: Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with multi-user accounts, role-based access, document retrieval, web search, voice and Python tools. It is free under a source-available licence that requires Open WebUI branding above 50 users; white-labelling needs a paid licence.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 12 Oct 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
- Free for internal use
- Branding must stay unless 50 or fewer users in a rolling 30 days
- White-labelling and rebranding
- Enterprise-exclusive offerings such as Terminals
- Quoted on end-user seat count
- Registered organisations only
Use cases
What you can produce with Open WebUI
- A private ChatGPT-style web interface over local Ollama models with one pip or Docker command
- Any OpenAI-compatible API, OpenAI or Anthropic, switched or combined per conversation
- Chat with uploaded PDFs and documents through the built-in retrieval pipeline
- Accounts with role-based permissions over models and features
- Python-based tools, functions and community pipelines
- Voice input, text-to-speech and realtime voice calls
- An enterprise licence for white-labelling and Terminals
Open WebUI is one of the most complete self-hosted front ends for putting a private, multi-user chat portal over your own models or API keys: role-based accounts, retrieval over documents, web search, voice and a Python tools workspace, with frequent releases.
Two caveats. It is an interface, so model quality, hardware, security and updates are your job. And since April 2025 the licence is not OSI open source: above 50 users the branding must stay, and white-labelling or enterprise-only features need a paid licence quoted per seat.
What we found
Open WebUI began in October 2023 as Ollama WebUI, and the old GitHub address still redirects to the renamed project. It is a self-hosted chat interface that sits in front of models you already run or pay for: Ollama locally, OpenAI and Anthropic, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. One pip or Docker command brings up multi-user chat with role-based access, document retrieval, web search, voice and a Python workspace for tools and functions. Version 0.12.0, released on 10 October 2026, added realtime voice calls, multi-factor sign-in and nested user groups.
It is an interface, not an inference engine. Answers are only as good as the model behind it, and running local models still needs capable hardware. The standard Docker image is heavy because it bundles retrieval and speech dependencies; a slim image has existed since August 2025, though it requires local file storage.
The licence is the part to read before deploying. Code up to v0.6.5 is BSD-3-Clause. From v0.6.6 in April 2025, the Open WebUI License adds a branding clause: the name and logo may not be removed or altered unless a deployment has 50 or fewer users in a rolling 30 days, the copyright holder agrees in writing, or an enterprise licence is bought. Contributors also sign a contributor licence agreement. The project still calls its licence permissive, but the clause means it is not an OSI-approved open-source licence, and earlier versions of this page described it as plain open source.
Open WebUI, Inc., led by creator Tim J. Baek, sells that enterprise licence for white-labelling and for enterprise-only extras such as Terminals, priced by seat count on request and offered only to registered organisations. Published customer stories include Samsung Semiconductor and Japan's Astellas Pharma.
For home users and teams that keep the branding, it costs nothing beyond hosting. Organisations planning a rebranded portal should budget for a licence.
Compiled by RECATOOLS from public sources: vendor documentation and pricing, code repositories and published reporting.
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including Open WebUI's official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with Open WebUI unless explicitly stated.
Third-party AI tools update their pricing, features, availability, and policies frequently. Information here may be outdated by the time you read this — we make reasonable efforts to keep listings current, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy.
For the latest details, please refer to Open WebUI directly →
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