# Open WebUI alternatives: the open source options compared

> Kortix is an open source AI Operating System for teams that outgrow a chat window and need agents to run the work. Open WebUI itself is a self-hosted chat interface over models and documents, and a shortlist shifts when the tool has to run the work.

URL: https://openwebuialternative.com/best-open-webui-alternatives

## Open WebUI alternatives compared

Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System; Open WebUI is a self-hosted chat and model interface.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Open WebUI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes, open source. Read it, fork it, audit it. | Yes, an open-source, self-hosted AI platform. |
| What it is | An agent platform: agents, skills, memory and connectors in one git repo. | A self-hosted chat and model interface over your documents. |
| Self-hosting | Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or your own on-prem. Self-host is free. | Docker, pip, uv or Kubernetes on your own hardware. |
| Models | Any model provider with your own keys. | Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible API. |
| Connectors | 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, GraphQL and raw HTTP. | Plugins, MCP, MCPO and OpenAPI tool servers. |
| Agent scope | Agents run on their own cloud computer and open a change request. | Agents run in chat, with Open Terminal for a terminal and filesystem. |
| How work lands | Work reaches main through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents. | Work and files stay in the chat. |
| Ownership | Agents, skills, memory and connectors live in one git repo you own. | Full control over your data and infrastructure. |

## What changes when the tool has to run the work

Open WebUI and Kortix are both open source, and the resemblance mostly stops there. A self-hosted chat interface gives a team a window over models and documents. Kortix, the open-source AI Operating System, gives a team somewhere to hand a job and a way to review what came back.

The split decides most alternative choices. Ask one question of anything on your shortlist: when the answer has to become a change in a real system, which machine runs it, and who approves it? A chat interface ends the turn at the reply. Kortix starts a session with its own isolated sandbox and its own branch, and the work reaches main through a change request a person reads first.

The repository is the second test. Agents, skills, company memory, connectors and triggers sit in one git repo you own, so a team can read a diff, roll a layer back, and carry the setup between environments. A chat deployment keeps its settings inside the application's own database.

### A decision guide for an Open WebUI alternative

- **You want a chat window over local and API models, self-hosted.** Open WebUI covers that ground: it runs offline and connects Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible API ([Open WebUI docs](https://docs.openwebui.com)).
- **You want those models plus agents that finish work and touch your tools.** Kortix reaches 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP, and each session runs on its own cloud computer.
- **You want the setup in version control.** Agents, skills, memory and connectors are files in a repo you own, and work reaches main through a change request.
- **You want work to start with nobody watching.** A trigger starts a session on a cron schedule or a signed webhook.

```yaml
acme-co/                    # your whole company, as files
  agents/                   # who does the work
  skills/                   # how your company does a job
  memory/                   # what it has learned so far
  kortix.yaml               # rules, triggers, connectors, the machine
```

When the question is which interface, Open WebUI is a fair answer. When the question is where the work runs and who approves it, the shortlist changes, and that split is what this comparison weighs. To try it on your own repository, [Try Kortix](https://kortix.com).