# Ollama vs Open WebUI: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)

Canonical: https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/ollama-vs-open-webui · Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Published: 2026-10-25 · Author: Agentic Weekly (operated independently from Texas, US) · Evidence: 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.

**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:** 2026-10-26 (America/Chicago).

> 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.

## 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.

Table: Our own tests for Ollama and Open WebUI

| 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](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests/ollama) | 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](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests/open-webui) |

How we test and label results: [methodology](https://theagenticweekly.com/methodology#testing-rig). All test logs: [test hub](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests).

## 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.

Table: Ollama and Open WebUI side by side (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)

|  | 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

Table: Strengths and limits as listed on each tool page

|  | 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.

## 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](https://ollama.com/) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Ollama pricing](https://ollama.com/pricing) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Ollama repository (GitHub)](https://github.com/ollama/ollama) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Open WebUI](https://openwebui.com/) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Open WebUI license](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/main/LICENSE) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Open WebUI repository (GitHub)](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui) (fetched 2026-10-25)

## Related

- [Ollama facts and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/ollama)
- [Open WebUI facts and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/open-webui)
- [Alternatives to Ollama](https://theagenticweekly.com/alternatives/ollama)
- [Alternatives to Open WebUI](https://theagenticweekly.com/alternatives/open-webui)
- [Local LLMs and model platforms: all tools we track](https://theagenticweekly.com/best/llm-platforms)
- [Ollama vs Jan](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/ollama-vs-jan)
- [Ollama vs llama.cpp](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/ollama-vs-llama-cpp)
- [Ollama vs GPT4All](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/ollama-vs-gpt4all)
- [Hugging Face vs Ollama](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/hugging-face-vs-ollama)
- [OpenRouter vs Ollama](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/openrouter-vs-ollama)
- [Replicate vs Ollama](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/replicate-vs-ollama)

## Changelog

- 2026-10-25: First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.

## How to cite

Agentic Weekly, "Ollama vs Open WebUI: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)", last updated 2026-10-26, https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/ollama-vs-open-webui