--- title: "dolly vs open-webui" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/databrickslabs-dolly-vs-open-webui-open-webui" tools: ["databrickslabs-dolly", "open-webui-open-webui"] --- # dolly vs open-webui *GraphCanon updated Aug 16, 2026* ## Verdict Pick dolly if dolly is a large language model that can be used for response generation and training, available through Hugging Face and the Databricks Machine Learning Platform; pick open-webui if suitable for developers working with large language models who require a user-friendly interface and support for multiple APIs including Ollama and OpenAI. [dolly](https://www.databricks.com/blog/2023/03/24/hello-dolly-democratizing-magic-chatgpt-open-models.html) reports 11k GitHub stars, 1.1k forks, and 6 open issues, last pushed Jun 30, 2023. [open-webui](https://openwebui.com) has 149k stars, 22k forks, and 398 open issues, last pushed Aug 15, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [dolly's repository](https://github.com/databrickslabs/dolly) and [open-webui's repository](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui). | | [dolly](/tools/databrickslabs-dolly.md) | [open-webui](/tools/open-webui-open-webui.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Large language model for response generation and training | User-friendly AI Interface (Supports Ollama, OpenAI API, ...) | | Stars | 10,805 | 148,875 | | Forks | 1,142 | 21,676 | | Open issues | 6 | 398 | | Language | Python | Python | | Adopt for | Dolly is a large language model that can be used for response generation and training, available through Hugging Face and the Databricks Machine Learning Platform. | Suitable for developers working with large language models who require a user-friendly interface and support for multiple APIs including Ollama and OpenAI. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | Other | | Categories | Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [dolly](/tools/databrickslabs-dolly.md) | [open-webui](/tools/open-webui-open-webui.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Dormant (18%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 1127d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 6 | 398 | | Stars delta | Unknown | +3.2k (30d) | | Open issues delta | Unknown | -51 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/databrickslabs-dolly/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/open-webui-open-webui/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: dolly - **Adopt for:** Dolly is a large language model that can be used for response generation and training, available through Hugging Face and the Databricks Machine Learning Platform. ## Decision facts: open-webui - **Adopt for:** Suitable for developers working with large language models who require a user-friendly interface and support for multiple APIs including Ollama and OpenAI. ## Choose when ### Choose dolly if… - License: dolly is Apache-2.0, open-webui is Other. - Tags unique to dolly: chatbot, databricks, dolly. - If your project requires a robust pre-trained model available via Hugging Face to quickly generate responses without extensive setup or training processes. ### Choose open-webui if… - License: open-webui is Other, dolly is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to open-webui: ai, llm, openai, self-hosted. - open-webui ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - When you need to integrate multiple AI services, such as Ollama and OpenAI, into a unified user interface. ## When NOT to use dolly - If your project requires a local deployment model that does not involve cloud-based tools, as Dolly's optimal use case involves integration with the Databricks platform. - In instances where immediate access to GPUs is constrained or expensive in your region, since Dolly training and inference are optimized for GPU processing environments. ## When NOT to use open-webui - When looking for tooling that exclusively supports APIs other than Ollama and OpenAI, as these are specific areas of focus for open-webui. - If the requirement is a highly specialized interface tailored to specific tasks rather than a general AI interaction platform. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between dolly and open-webui? dolly: Large language model for response generation and training. open-webui: User-friendly AI Interface (Supports Ollama, OpenAI API, ...). See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose dolly over open-webui? Choose dolly over open-webui when License: dolly is Apache-2.0, open-webui is Other; Tags unique to dolly: chatbot, databricks, dolly; If your project requires a robust pre-trained model available via Hugging Face to quickly generate responses without extensive setup or training processes. ### When should I choose open-webui over dolly? Choose open-webui over dolly when License: open-webui is Other, dolly is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to open-webui: ai, llm, openai, self-hosted; open-webui ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; When you need to integrate multiple AI services, such as Ollama and OpenAI, into a unified user interface. ### When should I avoid dolly? If your project requires a local deployment model that does not involve cloud-based tools, as Dolly's optimal use case involves integration with the Databricks platform. In instances where immediate access to GPUs is constrained or expensive in your region, since Dolly training and inference are optimized for GPU processing environments. ### When should I avoid open-webui? When looking for tooling that exclusively supports APIs other than Ollama and OpenAI, as these are specific areas of focus for open-webui. If the requirement is a highly specialized interface tailored to specific tasks rather than a general AI interaction platform. ### Is dolly or open-webui more popular on GitHub? open-webui has more GitHub stars (148,875 vs 10,805). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are dolly and open-webui open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (dolly: Apache-2.0, open-webui: Other). ### Where can I find alternatives to dolly or open-webui? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [dolly alternatives](/tools/databrickslabs-dolly/alternatives) and [open-webui alternatives](/tools/open-webui-open-webui/alternatives) ([dolly markdown twin](/tools/databrickslabs-dolly/alternatives.md), [open-webui markdown twin](/tools/open-webui-open-webui/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/databrickslabs-dolly-vs-open-webui-open-webui.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, dolly or open-webui? dolly: Dormant. open-webui: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for dolly and open-webui? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [dolly trust report](/tools/databrickslabs-dolly/trust); [open-webui trust report](/tools/open-webui-open-webui/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=databrickslabs-dolly`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=databrickslabs-dolly) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_