Self-hosted alternatives to ChatGPT

Self-hosted generative AI interfaces with your own models. Below are 12 open source options you host on your own server — with no monthly per-user fee and full control of your data.

Ollama

★ 174,743

Ollama runs large language models (LLMs) like Llama, Mistral and Gemma locally, on your own hardware, with a single command. It's the foundation for private AI at home: nothing goes to the cloud, no per-token cost, and it works offline.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

Open-WebUI

★ 142,641

Open WebUI is a ChatGPT-like chat interface for LLMs that connects to Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible API. Hosted by you, it becomes a private ChatGPT for your family or team, with history and users under your control.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) BSD-3-Clause

LobeHub

★ 78,968

LobeChat (LobeHub) is a modern AI chat interface supporting multiple models, plugins and custom assistants. Hosted by you, it offers a ChatGPT-like experience with your own providers and full conversation privacy.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) ⊘ Proprietary

AnythingLLM

★ 61,942

AnythingLLM is a full AI application that chats with your documents (RAG), with agents and multiple models. Self-hosted, it becomes a private AI knowledge base for you or your team.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

LocalAI

★ 47,061

LocalAI runs AI models (text, image, audio) locally, with an API compatible with OpenAI's. Self-hosted, it's a drop-in replacement to run AI without sending data to the cloud or paying per token.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

LibreChat

★ 39,643

LibreChat is a ChatGPT-style chat interface that connects multiple AI providers, with multi-user, search and plugins. Self-hosted, it centralizes LLM access with your data kept private.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

Vane

★ 35,412

AI-powered search engine (alternative to Perplexity AI).

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

Khoj

★ 35,250

Khoj is an AI 'second brain' that answers from your documents and the web, with agents and automations. Self-hosted, it keeps your knowledge base and searches completely private.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) AGPL-3.0

Onyx Community Edition

★ 30,487

Chat UI that works with any LLM. It comes loaded with advanced features like agents, web search, RAG, MCP, deep research, Connectors to 40+ knowledge sources, and more.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

Local Deep Research

★ 8,569

AI-powered deep research tool with multi-source search (arXiv, PubMed, web), PDF text extraction, and encrypted local storage.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

Agenta

★ 4,229

LLMOps platform for prompt management, LLM evaluation, and observability. Build, evaluate, and monitor production-grade LLM applications with collaborative prompt engineering.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) MIT

LLM Harbor

★ 3,098

Containerized LLM toolkit. Run LLM backends, APIs, frontends, and additional services via a concise CLI.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Apache-2.0

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free self-hosted alternative to ChatGPT?

Yes. We've gathered 12 self-hosted, open source alternatives to ChatGPT — including Ollama, Open-WebUI, LobeHub. You run all of them on your own server.

What is the best open source alternative to ChatGPT?

Ollama is one of the most popular (174,743 GitHub stars). The "best" depends on your case — compare the options below.

Do I need a server to replace ChatGPT?

Yes. You can use a home server (homelab) or a cheap VPS (from ~€4/mo). See the hosting suggestions on this page.