Ollama vs Open WebUI: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)
Ollama and Open WebUI are both listed under Local LLMs and model platforms. Ollama is open source (MIT); Open WebUI is not: Open WebUI License (custom; read it before commercial use). Pricing model: Ollama is "Free + paid cloud plans"; Open WebUI is "Free self-hosted". Ollama is the better fit for: developers who want local models behind a simple API. Open WebUI is the better fit for: teams that want a self-hosted chat UI. Facts were read from vendor and GitHub pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported; what we ran ourselves is under What we measured.
Our pick: Pick Ollama for developers who want local models behind a simple API; pick Open WebUI for teams that want a self-hosted chat UI. No overall winner: we have not benchmarked them against each other. Updated (America/Chicago).
Evidence: Both tools have a Tested entry (scope on each tool page). The facts in the tables were read from each vendor's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago) and are Reported. The What we measured section lists what we have actually run, with links to the test logs, and what we have not run yet; anything we could not confirm is marked as not captured.
Ollama · v0.40.11
Tested (smoke test)
The common way to run open models locally on macOS, Windows and Linux, with a cloud option and an MIT-licensed open-source core.
Open WebUI · v0.12.4
Tested (smoke test)
Self-hosted AI platform: a web interface that connects to Ollama and OpenAI-compatible models, under its own Open WebUI License.
Side by side, from what we recorded
Each row compares one recorded fact for both tools. Rows are not weighted and nothing is added up into a score; the note under each row says what the marker means.
Evidence
Tested (smoke test) for OllamaTested (smoke test) for Open WebUITested = we ran it (smoke test); Reported = we read official sources
Smoke-test result
Passed for OllamaPassed for Open WebUIEach tool's own smoke test on the same CPU-only machine; tasks differ unless the logs say otherwise
GitHub stars
184,762 (Ollama is ahead on this row) for Ollama156,757 for Open WebUIAttention, not quality. Read Oct 25, 2026 / Oct 25, 2026
Most recent release we saw
Oct 25, 2026 for OllamaOct 25, 2026 for Open WebUIMore recent = newer release date; says nothing about quality
Pricing we could verify
Verified from official page (Ollama is ahead on this row) for OllamaPartly verified for Open WebUIAbout our evidence only, not about the price
Steps in our setup guide
2 for Ollama2 for Open WebUICounts our guide's steps, not difficulty
Sources we cite
3 for Ollama3 for Open WebUIHow much we had to read; more is not better
A list of recorded differences, not a quality score or a ranking. We have not benchmarked these tools against each other; the smoke-test row links each tool's own log. How we label evidence.
What we measured
We ran both Ollama and Open WebUI ourselves; the table links each full test log. These are smoke tests on one CPU-only machine, not benchmarks. Each tool had its own task, so the two results are not a head-to-head. Model-driven runs used a small local Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct model.
| Test | Ollama | Open WebUI |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-on test log (install and a real task) | Tested: Ollama 0.40.11, Oct 25, 2026: passed. Ollama 0.40.11 served three Qwen2.5 sizes over its OpenAI-compatible API on 8 CPU cores: all three answered simple prompts; the 0.5B model failed JSON extraction while… Full test log | Tested: Open WebUI 0.12.4, Oct 25, 2026: passed. Open WebUI 0.12.4 installed with uv in 11.6 s (6,977 MB in the virtualenv), was healthy about 11 to 12 s after start, and answered a chat through its API in 0.68 s using… Full test log |
How we test and label results: methodology. All test logs: test hub.
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Ollama vs Open WebUI at a glance
Ollama and Open WebUI are both listed under Local LLMs and model platforms. Agentic Weekly's Open WebUI page names Ollama as an alternative. Ollama: The common way to run open models locally on macOS, Windows and Linux, with a cloud option and an MIT-licensed open-source core. Open WebUI: Self-hosted AI platform: a web interface that connects to Ollama and OpenAI-compatible models, under its own Open WebUI License.
| Feature | Ollama | Open WebUI |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Ollama | Open WebUI |
| Listed under | Local LLMs and model platforms | Local LLMs and model platforms |
| License | MIT | Open WebUI License (custom; read it before commercial use) |
| Pricing model | Free + paid cloud plans | Free self-hosted |
| Free tier | Free: $0, pay-as-you-go usage credits for cloud models | Free to self-host |
| Paid plans | Paid plan $20/month ($16.67/month billed annually) with $60 of monthly usage credits; $100/month with $300; $500/month with $1,000 shared; Enterprise custom | Enterprise options not read |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows and Linux | Self-hosted (Docker and others) |
| Public repository | ollama/ollama: 184,762 stars, last push Oct 25, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026) | open-webui/open-webui: 156,757 stars, last push Oct 25, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026) |
| Latest release we saw | v0.40.11, Oct 25, 2026 | v0.12.4, Oct 25, 2026 |
| Evidence | Tested (scope on its tool page) | Tested (scope on its tool page) |
How Ollama and Open WebUI differ
- Ollama is open source (MIT); Open WebUI is not: Open WebUI License (custom; read it before commercial use).
- Pricing model: Ollama is "Free + paid cloud plans"; Open WebUI is "Free self-hosted".
- GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: Ollama 184,762 (ollama/ollama) vs Open WebUI 156,757 (open-webui/open-webui). Stars measure attention, not quality.
- Free tier: Ollama: $0, pay-as-you-go usage credits for cloud models. Open WebUI: Free to self-host.
- Plans and prices differ and are not like-for-like (credits, seats and usage limits vary), so we do not name a cheaper tool. The Paid plans row above quotes each vendor's plan list as read on Oct 25, 2026.
Which should you pick?
- Pick Ollama if: developers who want local models behind a simple API; people who want to try open models privately. Skip it if: you need frontier proprietary models only.
- Pick Open WebUI if: teams that want a self-hosted chat UI; Ollama users who want a browser interface. Skip it if: you need a standard OSI license for your own distribution.
Strengths and limits
| Feature | Ollama | Open WebUI |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | MIT-licensed; Runs on all three desktop OSes; Active release cadence | Very active (v0.12.4 on Oct 25, 2026); Large community |
| Limits | Large models need hardware; Cloud usage is billed separately; Our test was one small task on a local 3B model; it does not show behaviour with hosted models or larger jobs | Custom license, not MIT or Apache; Our test was one small task on a local 3B model; it does not show behaviour with hosted models or larger jobs |
What we did not verify
- Ollama: Speed of a given model on your hardware.
- Open WebUI: Enterprise pricing.
- Output quality, speed and reliability beyond the smoke tests listed under What we measured: not compared.
Latest news briefs on Ollama and Open WebUI
- Ollama v0.40.11 adds speech generation on macOS and the d3 decision models (Reported; first seen 2026-10-26 03:48 UTC)
- Open WebUI v0.12.4 adds on-demand skill loading and says it contains unlisted security fixes (Reported; first seen 2026-10-26 03:48 UTC)
FAQ
Is Ollama or Open WebUI open source?
Ollama: MIT. Open WebUI: Open WebUI License (custom; read it before commercial use). Licenses come from each project's GitHub repository or the vendor's own pages, read Oct 25, 2026; read the license text itself before redistributing or building a competing service.
Does Ollama or Open WebUI have a free plan?
Ollama: Free: $0, pay-as-you-go usage credits for cloud models. Open WebUI: Free: to self-host. Checked Oct 25, 2026; prices and limits change, so confirm on each vendor's page.
Which was updated more recently, Ollama or Open WebUI?
Ollama's newest release we saw is v0.40.11 (Oct 25, 2026); Open WebUI's is v0.12.4 (Oct 25, 2026). Read Oct 25, 2026 from the official release page or repository; a newer date is not a quality ranking.
What is the main difference between Ollama and Open WebUI?
Ollama is open source (MIT); Open WebUI is not: Open WebUI License (custom; read it before commercial use). Pricing model: Ollama is "Free + paid cloud plans"; Open WebUI is "Free self-hosted".
Sources
- Ollama (fetched 2026-10-25)
- Ollama pricing (fetched 2026-10-25)
- Ollama repository (GitHub) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- Open WebUI (fetched 2026-10-25)
- Open WebUI license (fetched 2026-10-25)
- Open WebUI repository (GitHub) (fetched 2026-10-25)
Related
Page history
- : First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.
Markdown version for agents: /compare/ollama-vs-open-webui.md
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