Open WebUI
FreeA self-hosted web interface for local LLMs, usually placed in front of Ollama
A self-hosted web front end for local LLMs. It does not run models itself — you point it at Ollama or another API. It solves browser access, multi-user sharing, accounts and chat history, and is usually deployed with Docker. Not a standard open-source licence: BSD-3 plus a branding clause that forbids altering Open WebUI branding for deployments exceeding 50 end users in any rolling 30-day window.
Why we picked it
Open WebUI is the layer that turns a local model into something usable in a browser and shareable with other people. It runs no models itself; the usual setup is Ollama behind it serving the model. 148,737 stars, mature ecosystem.
One thing needs stating plainly, because nearly every write-up gets it wrong: it is not open source in the standard sense. The licence is BSD-3-Clause plus a fourth clause forbidding any alteration, removal or replacement of the Open WebUI name, logo or visual identifiers. Restricting modification fails the OSI definition — this is source-available software.
To be fair, the clause has an exception: deployments with 50 or fewer end users in any rolling 30-day period may change the branding. So for personal, household or small-team use it behaves like BSD-3. It only becomes a real consideration if you plan to roll it out across a company or rebrand it as your own product.