AnythingLLM vs Open WebUI: an open-source chat comparison for teams

What AnythingLLM and Open WebUI each are

AnythingLLM is an open-source application from Mintplex Labs for chatting with your own documents. It runs on your own computer as a desktop app, or as a multi-user server through Docker, and it ingests PDFs, text files and Word documents into a knowledge base that answers with citations (see anythingllm.com and AnythingLLM on GitHub). The desktop app stays single-user, while multi-user support and permissioning ship in the Docker deployment.

Open WebUI is an open-source, self-hosted chat platform that connects to Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible API. It is built to run entirely offline, and it gives a provider-agnostic interface to local and cloud models, with granular roles and groups, retrieval over several vector databases, and a terminal for agents inside the chat (Open WebUI docs, Open WebUI on GitHub).

Both projects are open source, and each is a strong chat surface over models you choose. The question a buyer asks is which one fits, and the answer depends on where the work and the configuration should live.

Where each chat app is strong

AnythingLLM is quick to start and focused on private document chat. One file installs the desktop app on macOS, Windows or Linux, and it connects to local models through providers such as Ollama or LM Studio as well as to cloud APIs. A built-in agent builder handles simple automations, and its memory is scoped to a workspace, so what one workspace learns does not become shared company knowledge.

Open WebUI is deeper at the team chat surface. An administrator defines roles, groups and permissions, and the platform supports single sign-on, directory integration and provisioning for larger deployments. Its retrieval layer picks from nine vector databases, its plugin system covers tools, pipes and filters, and Open Terminal gives an agent a real terminal and filesystem inside the conversation. Per-user isolated terminals need the enterprise tier.

Each project is an application you operate, and each keeps its state inside that application. Open WebUI keeps memory per person, so facts stay with one chat history. Neither ships a review gate that holds a change for a person to approve.

Where a team's agents, memory and connector rules live

Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and it answers a different question: where the agents, the memory and the rules about tools live. In Kortix those are files in one git repo you own, declared next to a kortix.yaml at the project root (Kortix docs). Because the configuration is version controlled, a change to how the team works arrives as a diff a person can read, and a new teammate clones the repo to get the whole setup.

agents:  support-triage:    file: agents/support-triage.md   # what it does, in plain markdown    connectors: all                  # what it may reach

Each session runs one agent on its own cloud computer, on a branch named after the session. The agent can install, run and break anything it likes, because only what it commits survives, and session work reaches main through a change request a person approves. Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine, and each call is set to Allow, Ask or Block down to the arguments. Kortix on GitHub carries the source you can read, fork and audit.

How to choose

Pick AnythingLLM when the job is private document chat and retrieval on one machine or one Docker host, and you want to start in minutes. Pick Open WebUI when you want a private, model-agnostic chat surface with identity and permissions for a team. Pick Kortix when the job is company-wide agent work: agents that run on their own cloud computers, a shared company memory, connector rules scoped per call, and every change landing as a diff a person approves. For the wider field, see the shortlist of AnythingLLM alternatives.