Open WebUI vs Jan vs Ollama

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.

Open WebUIopen-webui/open-webui

Janjanhq/jan

Ollamaollama/ollama

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

3 of 3 jobs

1 of 3 jobs

All 3

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

156,304

45,023

184,074Top

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

814Top

195

—

Latest release

v0.12.3 · 2026-10-16

v0.8.7 · 2026-10-20Top

v0.40.6 · 2026-10-16

—

Commits / 12 wk

1,869

748

294

—

People committing / 12 mo

140+

46+

36+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

626 / 644

119 / 137

201 / 125

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

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

Yes, desktop app running models offline

Yes, installer or Docker; cloud models optional

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

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

Apache-2.0 (attribution requested)

MIT

—

Model weights licenceDiffers

No bundled weights; licence depends on the model you connect

No bundled weights; licence depends on the model you download

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

—

Commercial useDiffers

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

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

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

—

Paid services needed?Differs

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

None required; cloud model providers optional

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

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

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

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

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

—

Operating systemsDiffers

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

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

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

—

Setup effortDiffers

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

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

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

—

Stars over time

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

Open WebUI
Jan
Ollama

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Open WebUI vs Jan vs Ollama

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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