Google Gemini vs Open WebUI
Google Gemini and Open WebUI are both AI assistants software. Google Gemini is a commercial product from Google. Open WebUI is open source under a license set out in its repository, with 158k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick Google Gemini when
- You live in Google's apps and want an assistant that works across Gmail, Docs and Drive, included with many Workspace plans.
- Pick Open WebUI when
- You run local or private models and want a full-featured chat front end for yourself or a team.
Side by side
Google's AI assistant for chat, research, writing, coding and images, connected to Gmail, Docs and Drive in Google Workspace.
A self-hosted web interface for chatting with local models through Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible API, with RAG, tools, user management and pipelines.
Data handling differs between consumer and Workspace accounts, so check which one staff use.
Its custom licence restricts removing Open WebUI branding for larger deployments, and it is still pre-1.0.
Production-ready (both)
Cloud service and mobile app
Self-hosted server
Not published
Python, Svelte and SvelteKit
Closed source, sold by Google
Open source, license unclear on GitHub
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.
GitHub could not read the license. Check it in the repository before reusing any code.
46k Wikipedia readers a month on phones
158k GitHub stars
Not known
Established: started 3 years ago, latest release v0.12.5.
Other comparisons
More AI assistants
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.