Ollama vs Jan vs Open WebUI

Side by side, as alternatives to ChatGPT Plus. Rows that differ are highlighted; the strongest value in a row is marked. Unknown means no source yet.

Ollamaollama/ollama

Janjanhq/jan

Open WebUIopen-webui/open-webui

ChatGPT Pluspaid product

Cost and coverage

Price

$0 software; you run it

Plus $20/month; Pro from $100/month source ↗

Chat assistant

Partly

Yes

Chat with your documents

Partly

Yes

Web search answers

Partly

Yes

Jobs covered

1 of 3 jobs

3 of 3 jobs

All 3

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

184,074Top

45,023

156,304

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

195

814Top

—

Latest release

v0.40.6 · 2026-10-16

v0.8.7 · 2026-10-20Top

v0.12.3 · 2026-10-16

—

Commits / 12 wk

294

748

1,869

—

People committing / 12 mo

36+

46+

140+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

201 / 125

119 / 137

626 / 644

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Yes, installer or Docker; cloud models optional

Yes, desktop app running models offline

Yes, self-hosted web app via pip or Docker; can run fully offline

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

MIT

Apache-2.0 (attribution requested)

Open WebUI License (BSD-3 style + branding clause); not OSI-approved

—

Model weights licenceDiffers

No bundled weights; each model you pull has its own licence

No bundled weights; licence depends on the model you download

No bundled weights; licence depends on the model you connect

—

Commercial useDiffers

Runner is MIT; commercial use of a model depends on that model's licence

Yes, Apache-2.0 app; check the licence of the model you use

Yes, but branding must stay above 50 users/30 days unless enterprise licence

—

Paid services needed?Differs

None for local use; Ollama Cloud plans optional (Pro $20/month)

None required; cloud model providers optional

None required with local Ollama; paid APIs and Enterprise plan optional

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

Apple M-series or x86 (CPU only) on Mac; 4GB for Windows binary; RAM not stated

macOS 8GB RAM for 3B, 16GB for 7B, 32GB for 13B models; GPU optional

GPU optional (CUDA image falls back to CPU); RAM not documented; depends on model

—

Operating systemsDiffers

macOS 14+, Windows 10 22H2+, Linux, Docker

Windows 10+, macOS 13.6+, Linux (deb, AppImage, Flathub)

macOS, Linux (x86_64, ARM64) and Windows (Docker via WSL)

—

Setup effortDiffers

Easy; one-line install script or installer, then ollama run

Easy; download installer (exe, dmg, deb, AppImage) or app stores

Easy; pip install open-webui (Python 3.11) or one Docker command

—

Stars over time

Switch to Growth % to compare projects of different sizes fairly.

Ollama
Jan
Open WebUI

Focus a point, use arrow keys, or tap for its value.

Tracked daily since 15 Oct 2026. Dashed history: estimated from public records of when people starred the repo. Lines connect observations only; gaps contain no measured points.

Growth % starts at each project's first observed point in the shown range. Zero-star starts are unavailable.

Notes for a video or post

A plain summary with today's date and a link to the sources. Check each project page before you publish.

Ollama vs Jan vs Open WebUI (as alternatives to ChatGPT Plus)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 21 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=ollama,jan,open-webui&product=chatgpt-plus

ChatGPT Plus: Plus $20/month; Pro from $100/month
Ollama: free software; does 1 of 3 ChatGPT Plus jobs
Jan: free software; does 1 of 3 ChatGPT Plus jobs
Open WebUI: free software; does 3 of 3 ChatGPT Plus jobs

- Ollama: 184,074 GitHub stars, 294 commits in 12 weeks, licence MIT
- Jan: 45,023 GitHub stars, 748 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0 (attribution requested)
- Open WebUI: 156,304 GitHub stars, 1,869 commits in 12 weeks, licence Open WebUI License (BSD-3 style + branding clause); not OSI-approved

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: Ollama Yes, installer or Docker; cloud models optional; Jan Yes, desktop app running models offline; Open WebUI Yes, self-hosted web app via pip or Docker; can run fully offline
- Code licence: Ollama MIT; Jan Apache-2.0 (attribution requested); Open WebUI Open WebUI License (BSD-3 style + branding clause); not OSI-approved
- Model weights licence: Ollama No bundled weights; each model you pull has its own licence; Jan No bundled weights; licence depends on the model you download; Open WebUI No bundled weights; licence depends on the model you connect
- Commercial use: Ollama Runner is MIT; commercial use of a model depends on that model's licence; Jan Yes, Apache-2.0 app; check the licence of the model you use; Open WebUI Yes, but branding must stay above 50 users/30 days unless enterprise licence
- Paid services needed?: Ollama None for local use; Ollama Cloud plans optional (Pro $20/month); Jan None required; cloud model providers optional; Open WebUI None required with local Ollama; paid APIs and Enterprise plan optional
- Hardware: Ollama Apple M-series or x86 (CPU only) on Mac; 4GB for Windows binary; RAM not stated; Jan macOS 8GB RAM for 3B, 16GB for 7B, 32GB for 13B models; GPU optional; Open WebUI GPU optional (CUDA image falls back to CPU); RAM not documented; depends on model
- Operating systems: Ollama macOS 14+, Windows 10 22H2+, Linux, Docker; Jan Windows 10+, macOS 13.6+, Linux (deb, AppImage, Flathub); Open WebUI macOS, Linux (x86_64, ARM64) and Windows (Docker via WSL)
- Setup effort: Ollama Easy; one-line install script or installer, then ollama run; Jan Easy; download installer (exe, dmg, deb, AppImage) or app stores; Open WebUI Easy; pip install open-webui (Python 3.11) or one Docker command

Stars show popularity, not quality. Check each project page before publishing.

Want share images and a ready video description? Open a project's creator kit.

Numbers: GitHub, fetched nightly. Facts: read from each project's own documentation, with the source on its page. How we check. ollama/ollama ↗janhq/jan ↗open-webui/open-webui ↗

Ollama vs Jan vs Open WebUI

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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