# Docker Model Runner vs Open WebUI (slim)

> Docker Model Runner scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema & documentation, security & auth and maintenance & community. Both do local inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and…

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Docker Model Runner scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema & documentation, security & auth and maintenance & community. Both do local inference.

- Docker Model Runner: C 57.1, rank #428 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/docker-model-runner.min.md
- Open WebUI: D 51.8, rank #500 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-webui.min.md
- Docker Model Runner, good for A team that already runs Docker and wants local models served to containers and Compose services through OpenAI-, Anthropic- or Ollama-compatible routes, with models stored as OCI artefacts. Ahead on Reliability, 85 against 68; Payments & pricing, 60 against 20. Also No key needed to call it; Free to start without a card; Open source.
- Open WebUI, good for A household or team that wants one chat interface over local and hosted models, with shared knowledge bases, memories, tools and access control, on their own server. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 60 against 49; Security & auth, 63 against 40; Maintenance & community, 91 against 55.

| Category | Docker Model Runner | Open WebUI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 85 | 68 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 49 | 60 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 58 | 54 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 40 | 63 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 20 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 55 | 91 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 73 | 71 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Docker Model Runner | Open WebUI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | Model platform |
| Vendor | Docker, Inc. | Open WebUI Inc. |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (server, CLI plugin and `dmr` binary). Docker Desktop, which bundles it, is closed software under Docker's subscription agreement, and each model carries its own licence | Open WebUI License. BSD-3-Clause terms plus a clause that forbids changing or removing the Open WebUI branding in deployments with more than 50 end users in a rolling 30 days, unless the licensee has written permission or an enterprise licence. Code from before set commits stays under MIT or BSD-3-Clause (LICENSE_HISTORY), and contributors sign a CLA |
| Last release | 2026-08-12 | 2026-09-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-26 | 2026-07-07 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-26 | 2025-12-31 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 656 stars | 153k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |