Open WebUI is a self-hosted web interface for interacting with large language models through a familiar chat experience. It can connect to local model runtimes such as Ollama as well as OpenAI-compatible APIs, allowing users to manage conversations, models, prompts, and AI tools from one customizable interface.

The platform includes features for retrieval over documents, web search, tools and functions, user management, and extensibility, making it more than a basic local chat frontend. Open WebUI is useful for individuals, teams, and organizations that want a private or self-managed AI workspace while retaining flexibility to switch between local and hosted model providers.