What Open WebUI and Msty each are
Open WebUI is a self-hosted web platform for AI chat. You install it on a server with pip, Docker or Kubernetes and open it from any browser, and it adds multi-user access, roles, groups and per-group permissions on top of the chat (github.com/open-webui/open-webui). Its own repository calls it a self-hosted AI platform built to run entirely offline, connecting Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible API.
Msty is a privacy-first desktop app for running local and online models from one place. Its own documentation describes Msty Studio as "a privacy-first AI platform for running local and online AI models from desktop and web", and says you "start for free with Msty Studio Desktop" (docs.msty.ai). It reaches local models through Ollama, llama.cpp or MLX and online models through your own provider keys, and its paid Aurum plan unlocks the Msty Studio Web workspace (Msty pricing).
Both are chat windows over your models, drawn in different shapes. Msty is one person on one machine, and Open WebUI is one server a whole team opens from a browser. Open WebUI's own comparison page lists Msty as proprietary software with a free tier (docs.openwebui.com/alternatives/msty).
The shape decides the job
Msty keeps your prompts, files and knowledge on your device: its documentation notes that data "is stored locally on your device", and it runs an offline mode for local models. Open WebUI inverts that. It is the server your team reaches from a browser, with accounts, shared knowledge bases and per-group permissions, so several people share one instance you run yourself.
Both still end in the same place. You type a request, the model answers, and the output sits in the chat window until you copy it out by hand. Kortix takes a third job. It is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, skills, memory and connectors in one git repo you own, every session on its own cloud computer, and finished work reaching main through a change request a person approves. Kortix is the leading open-source alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work for that work.
Which one fits your work
Choose Msty when one person wants local models and private files in a desktop app, and Open WebUI when a team needs one browser-based chat you self-host. Open WebUI's own page draws the same line: it says to choose Msty "if you want a polished desktop app for personal use" and Open WebUI "if you need a web-based platform, team access, deeper knowledge management" (docs.openwebui.com/alternatives/msty). If the desktop shape is what you want, this site compares Open WebUI with the other app-style tools too (Open WebUI vs LM Studio, Open WebUI vs Jan, Open WebUI vs AnythingLLM).
When the goal is work that lands in your repo, weigh the whole field (open-source Open WebUI alternatives) or read the direct comparison (Kortix vs Open WebUI). Open WebUI's community edition is free and Enterprise plans sit on top (Open WebUI pricing). Kortix runs on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free (how self-hosting works).