AltFreeStack
ESEN
Artificial Intelligencedocker-ready1-click-deploypermissive-licenseOpen-Core🟡 Standard · ~1GB💾 Recommended storage: 5GB

Open WebUI: Open-Core alternative to ChatGPT Plus in 2026

Open WebUI is an extensible, self-hostable chat interface for local LLMs (via Ollama) or remote OpenAI-API-compatible models, with support for RAG, multiple users and plugins.

Core is open source, but advanced features or enterprise support may be behind a paid tier — check the license.

ℹ️ It's just the chat interface: it doesn't run models itself, so it doesn't need its own GPU — the actual inference happens in Ollama (or another OpenAI-API-compatible backend) that it connects to.

Alternative to ChatGPT Plus
License MIT155.6k starsWebsite GitHub Repository

Audit Snapshot

View notes →

  • License — Not verifiable on GitHub

  • GitHub — Active

  • Latest release — v0.12.0 · 3 days ago

  • Docker Compose — Partial

  • Production — Not production-tested by AltFreeStack

Open WebUI vs. ChatGPT Plus

Pros

  • Runs 100% local models, no data sent to third parties

Things to consider

  • Quality depends on the model you choose to run (GPU recommended)

Quick Docker installation guide

Copy this docker-compose.yml, adjust the example passwords and run docker compose up -d on your server. See the full step-by-step guide →

💡 Official SaaS or self-hosted with AltFreeStack?

  • On the official cloud: a recurring monthly fee and usage limits on ChatGPT Plus.
  • On your own VPS: the core is free to self-host on your own server — no more monthly SaaS fee, though some advanced features stay behind a paid plan.
docker-compose.yml
version: "3.9"
services:
  open-webui:
    image: openwebui/open-webui:0.11.4
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:8080"
    environment:
      - OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://ollama:11434
    volumes:
      - open_webui_data:/app/backend/data
    depends_on:
      - ollama
  ollama:
    image: ollama/ollama:0.35.0
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ollama_data:/root/.ollama
volumes:
  open_webui_data:
  ollama_data:

🚀 Deploy in 1 command

Recommended for beginners

Copy this single command and paste it into your freshly created VPS's console (Vultr, DigitalOcean...). It downloads the script, prints it to your screen so you can see exactly what it's about to do (never a blind direct pipe), and only then installs Docker if needed, writes the files with secrets already generated, and starts everything — no nano, no pasting code blocks.

curl -sSL ".../api/deploy?stack=open-webui" -o deploy.sh && cat deploy.sh && bash deploy.sh
See what this script does →

This docker-compose corresponds to an actively maintained project — last commit today.

This docker-compose not working for you? Report it on GitHub →

Technical profile

License
MIT
Category
Artificial Intelligence
Replaces
ChatGPT Plus
Tech stack
PythonSvelteSQLite

Under the hood

Database

SQLite

Language

Python

Platforms

Web

Key features

  • Compatible with Ollama and any OpenAI-style API
  • RAG with your own documents
  • User and role management
  • Marketplace of community prompts and functions

Preview

Open WebUI interface preview

Public image provided by Open WebUI on its own website.

💾 Backups in 3 steps (Day 2)

As long as the ./data folder (the "volume" mapped into the container) exists on your server, your data survives any restart or container update — that's the only thing you need to back up.

1. Create a compressed backup on the server

tar -czvf backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz ./data

2. Download it to your computer

From your computer's terminal (not your server's):

scp root@YOUR_IP:~/app/backup-*.tar.gz ./

3. Restore in case of emergency

tar -xzvf backup-file.tar.gz
🌐 Connect your domain with free SSL

Step 1 — Set up the DNS

In your domain registrar's dashboard (Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy...), create a record:

Type
A
Name/Host
@ (root domain) or a subdomain, e.g. app
Content/Value
Your server's public IP

Wait 5 to 15 minutes for the record to propagate across the internet.

Step 2 — Automatic reverse proxy with Caddy

One single file, no Nginx config or manual certificates — Caddy issues and renews Let's Encrypt HTTPS on its own.

Create a file called Caddyfile:

yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Start Caddy with this command (pulls the image and runs it in the background):

docker run -d -p 80:80 -p 443:443 --name caddy --restart always -v $PWD/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile -v caddy_data:/data caddy