{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "foundry-local", "name": "Foundry Local", "vendor": "Microsoft", "vendorUrl": "https://www.foundrylocal.ai", "kind": "sdk", "category": "local-ai", "summary": "Microsoft's on-device model runtime, built on ONNX Runtime. Applications embed it through SDKs for C#, JavaScript, Python and Rust, and it can start an optional OpenAI-compatible server on localhost. A preview CLI is also available.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/foundry-local", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/foundry-local.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/foundry-local.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/foundry-local.json", "repo": "https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local", "license": "MIT for the SDKs and the v2 native runtime. The CLI is closed source under Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Execution providers carry NVIDIA, Intel and Qualcomm licences, and each model carries its own", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "foundry-local-sdk" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "foundry-local-sdk" }, { "registry": "nuget", "name": "Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local" }, { "registry": "cargo", "name": "foundry-local-sdk" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No authentication. The SDK runs in the application's own process, and the optional local server takes no key or token. It binds to 127.0.0.1 on a dynamic port unless the owner configures `web.urls` or starts the CLI daemon with `--port`. No account or Azure subscription is needed.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free, with no account, card or Azure subscription. The SDK is MIT and the CLI is a free download under Microsoft's licence terms. Microsoft states there are no per-token costs. Foundry Local on Azure Local is a separate product for servers and is not covered here (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the README or the SDK source (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 2600, "npmWeekly": 105372, "pypiWeekly": 47344, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry-local/", "capabilities": [ "inference.local", "inference.open-weights", "embed.text", "speech.stt" ], "tags": [ "local", "open-source", "free", "no-card", "account-free", "no-auth", "openai-compatible", "csharp", "typescript", "python", "rust", "npu", "telemetry-on-by-default" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 60.5, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 461, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 61, "maintenance": 88, "payments": 60, "reliability": 68, "schema": 53, "security": 39, "transparency": 72 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "The SDK and its native runtime are MIT, at 2.1.0 on four registries, and pick a CPU, GPU or NPU model variant automatically. The optional local server has no credential, its current routes aren't in the published REST reference, and telemetry is on by default with an opt-out.", "bestFor": "An application that ships a model to end users' Windows, macOS or Linux devices and wants NPU and GPU variants chosen automatically, especially on Windows.", "strengths": [ "SDK 2.1.0 published on npm, PyPI, NuGet and crates.io on 29 September 2026, with the SDK and the v2 native runtime under MIT in a public repository", "A model alias selects the best variant for the machine's CPU, GPU or NPU, with CUDA, WebGPU, OpenVINO, QNN and Vitis AI execution providers", "The v2 server answers `/v1/chat/completions`, `/v1/responses`, `/v1/embeddings`, `/v1/audio/transcriptions` and `/v1/models` in OpenAI's shapes", "Six releases in the 90 days to 8 October 2026, and the v2.0.1 notes carry a breaking-changes section", "No account, key, card or Azure subscription is needed, and prompts and outputs are processed on the device per the docs" ], "weaknesses": [ "The local server takes no credential, and its routes include model load and unload and `POST /shutdown`", "The REST reference on Microsoft Learn lists `/openai/*` and `/foundry/list` routes that the v2 runtime source doesn't register, and doesn't cover `/v1/responses`", "Telemetry is on by default through Microsoft's 1DS SDK. The opt-out covers non-essential telemetry only, and the Learn FAQ doesn't mention it", "The CLI is a closed-source public preview, and its REST reference warns of breaking changes without notice", "76 open issues on 8 October 2026, among them a Linux ARM64 segmentation fault (#1182) and several unanswered GPU and NPU detection reports" ], "agentNotes": [ "Read the server URL from `manager.urls[0]` or `foundry server status`. The port is dynamic unless the owner sets `web.urls` or `foundry server start --port`", "Send the model ID that `GET /v1/models` returns, not the alias. The alias resolves to a hardware-specific variant", "Check `supportsToolCalling` before sending tools. Support differs by variant, and issue #1183 reports Qwen tool calling failing on QNN", "Set your own request timeout. Inference has no built-in one, and cancellation takes effect only after the current generation step", "Ask the owner to set `ORT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1` or `disableNonessentialTelemetry` before the manager is created if telemetry must be off" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 60.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 61, "maintenance": 88, "payments": 60, "reliability": 68, "schema": 53, "security": 39, "transparency": 63 }, "provenanceScore": 80 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install foundry-local-sdk # or: npm install foundry-local-sdk\n# CLI (preview): winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal # macOS: brew tap microsoft/foundrylocal \u0026\u0026 brew install foundrylocal", "http": "foundry server start --port 39839 --idle-timeout 0\ncurl http://localhost:39839/v1/chat/completions \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"model\": \"\u003cMODEL_ID\u003e\", \"messages\": [{\"role\": \"user\", \"content\": \"What is the golden ratio?\"}]}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.local", "tool": "https://letme.dev/foundry-local" }, "sameCompany": [ "azure-foundry-fine-tuning", "azure-ai-content-safety", "azure-speech-to-text", "azure-text-to-speech", "microsoft-agent-framework", "microsoft-execution-containers", "microsoft-entra-agent-id", "azure-key-vault", "azure-document-intelligence", "azure-devops-mcp", "microsoft-learn-mcp", "playwright-mcp", "azure-mcp", "azure-maps", "azure-translator", "microsoft-graph-calendar", "azure-blob-storage", "onedrive-sharepoint", "microsoft-teams", "dynamics-365-sales", "power-automate", "microsoft-advertising-api", "microsoft-excel-graph", "outlook-mail-graph" ], "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Microsoft Corporation", "domain": "microsoft.com", "domainRegistered": "1991-05-02", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases", "securityTxt": "expired", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The repository is under GitHub's microsoft organisation, the licence file reads Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, and foundrylocal.ai names Microsoft Corporation as publisher.", "The terms link is the repository's LICENSE file, which holds the MIT licence for the SDK and the Microsoft Software Licence Terms for the CLI. Microsoft publishes no other agreement for Foundry Local that we found.", "The privacy link is the product's own privacy file in the repository, which the README links. It and the CLI licence both refer on to the Microsoft Privacy Statement, a company-wide notice, which answered 403 to our request.", "www.microsoft.com/.well-known/security.txt loads and points to the MSRC researcher portal, but its Expires field is 2026-09-23T16:00:00.000Z, which had passed on 8 October 2026. learn.microsoft.com and foundrylocal.ai return 404.", "No status page is listed because the software runs on the owner's machine. The model catalogue is a cloud service with no status page that we found.", "RDAP gives microsoft.com a registration date of 1991-05-02 and foundrylocal.ai one of 2025-10-07." ], "score": 80 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/foundry-local.json" }, "answer": "Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "b": { "slug": "open-webui", "name": "Open WebUI", "vendor": "Open WebUI Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://openwebui.com", "kind": "platform", "category": "local-ai", "summary": "Self-hosted web interface for chatting with models, from Open WebUI Inc., with a Python (FastAPI) back end and a Svelte front end.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-webui", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-webui.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-webui.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/open-webui.json", "repo": "https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui", "license": "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", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "open-webui" }, { "registry": "oci", "name": "ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Sign-in is on by default (`WEBUI_AUTH`), the first account to sign up becomes admin, and sign-up then closes. An agent calls the API with `Authorization: Bearer \u003ctoken\u003e`, either an `sk-` API key from Settings \u003e Account or a session JWT, which lasts four weeks by default (`JWT_EXPIRES_IN`), and behind a reverse proxy that uses `Authorization` itself the key can go in an `x-api-key` header (https://docs.openwebui.com/reference/api-endpoints). API keys stay off until an administrator turns them on (`ENABLE_API_KEYS` defaults to false), a group permission decides who may create one, and they can be limited instance-wide to listed endpoints with `ENABLE_API_KEYS_ENDPOINT_RESTRICTIONS` and `API_KEYS_ALLOWED_ENDPOINTS` (https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/main/backend/open_webui/config.py). Each user has one key, `sk-` plus 32 hexadecimal characters, stored as plain text with a last-used time and no expiry set by the API (https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/main/backend/open_webui/routers/auths.py). People sign in with email and password, OAuth or OIDC, LDAP or trusted headers, with SCIM 2.0 provisioning.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free to self-host under the Open WebUI License. Deployments with more than 50 end users in a rolling 30 days have to keep the Open WebUI branding unless they hold an enterprise licence or written permission. The enterprise licence (white-labelling, SLA-backed support, Terminals) is sold through sales to registered organisations only, with no published prices (https://docs.openwebui.com/enterprise). There's no hosted Open WebUI service. You pay your model provider, or nothing with a local model (checked 2026-10-03).", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-03).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 153000, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-03" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.openwebui.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.openwebui.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "inference.local", "agent.mcp-client", "memory.user", "knowledge.search" ], "tags": [ "self-hosted", "local", "free", "python", "docker", "openai-compatible", "llms-txt", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-21", "graded": true, "disclosure": "Open WebUI competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds, and LocalGhost's own about page names it as a competitor. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.", "competesWith": "localghost", "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 51.8, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 664, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 13, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 54, "maintenance": 91, "payments": 20, "reliability": 68, "schema": 60, "security": 63, "transparency": 71 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-03" }, "negative": -8, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-05-05. GHSA-2r4p-jpmg-48f4 (CVE-2026-44551, Critical, 9.1). LDAP sign-in accepted an empty password where the directory allows unauthenticated binds, giving full access to the victim's account. It affects 0.8.12 and earlier and was fixed in 0.9.0 (21 April 2026) before publication, -2. https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-2r4p-jpmg-48f4", "2026-07-02. GHSA-74h3-cxq7-vc5q (CVE-2026-59216, 7.7). A signed-in low-privilege user could run code and tools in another user's session through an unchecked Socket.IO session_id, which against an administrator meant code execution as the server process (root in default containers). Fixed in 0.10.0 on 29 June 2026 and published three days later, -2. https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-74h3-cxq7-vc5q", "2026-08-02 and 2026-09-04. Two account takeovers through OAuth, both High. GHSA-rq84-p6rr-vf89 accepted tokens issued to any client in the OAuth token exchange (fixed in 0.11.0), and GHSA-wpmr-8h3q-fwj7 (8.1) matched OAuth and OIDC subjects by substring on SQLite, so a crafted subject could sign in as an existing account, administrators included (fixed in 0.11.1 on 25 August). Both fixed before publication, -2. https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-rq84-p6rr-vf89; https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-wpmr-8h3q-fwj7", "2025-10-03 to 2026-10-03. The rest of the year's record. GitHub reviewed 143 of the repository's advisories in the 12 months to 3 October 2026, and 129 cover flaws fixed in releases from 0.6.35 (6 November 2025) on, 58 High and 1 Critical, more than half of them access-control or authorisation flaws by their titles and CWE tags. July to September alone brought 52 (18 High, 29 Moderate, 5 Low) in batches published on 2 July, 2 August and 4 September. Each was fixed in a release before publication, so the 125 beyond the four above count together, -2. https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories; https://github.com/advisories?query=open-webui+type%3Areviewed+ecosystem%3Apip" ], "verdict": "Five releases in the 90 days to 3 October 2026, each with a dated changelog entry that warns of database migrations. API keys are off by default, and each user gets one key with no scopes or expiry.", "bestFor": "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.", "disclosure": "Open WebUI competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds, and LocalGhost's own about page names it as a competitor. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.", "strengths": [ "Five releases in the 90 days to 3 October 2026, each with a dated changelog entry that warns of database migrations", "OpenAI-compatible `/api/chat/completions` and `/api/models`, plus an Anthropic Messages route and an Ollama proxy, so OpenAI's SDKs work against a local instance", "Roles, groups, per-model and per-knowledge access grants, a group permission for key creation and an instance-wide endpoint allowlist for keys", "An audit log at metadata, request or request-and-response level, plus events for key creation and deletion", "No product telemetry found, third-party analytics off in the Docker image, and `OFFLINE_MODE` to stop the release check and model downloads" ], "weaknesses": [ "API keys are off by default, and each user gets one key with no scopes or expiry", "The API reference covers seven route groups, and the OpenAPI file and Swagger UI need `ENV=dev`", "52 advisories published from July to September 2026, 18 of them High, including cross-user code execution (CVE-2026-59216) and two OAuth account takeovers, all fixed", "Pre-1.0 (0.11), with database migrations in patch releases and no rolling updates during them", "The branding clause makes the licence non-OSI, and the enterprise licence has no published price" ], "agentNotes": [ "Ask the administrator to set `ENABLE_API_KEYS=true` and let your group create keys. `sk-` keys are refused until then", "Send OpenAI's request shape to `/api/chat/completions` with a Bearer key, or use `x-api-key` behind a proxy that takes `Authorization` for itself", "Call `/api/models` first and use an `id` from it. Model IDs depend on the instance's connections", "Poll `GET /api/v1/files/{id}/process/status` until it reads `completed` before adding a file to a knowledge base", "Expect a 403 on routes outside `API_KEYS_ALLOWED_ENDPOINTS` when the administrator has set an allowlist" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 51.8 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 54, "maintenance": 91, "payments": 20, "reliability": 68, "schema": 60, "security": 63, "transparency": 66 }, "provenanceScore": 76 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install open-webui \u0026\u0026 open-webui serve # or: docker run -d -p 3000:8080 --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway -v open-webui:/app/backend/data --name open-webui --restart always ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main", "http": "curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/chat/completions \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $OPEN_WEBUI_API_KEY\" \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"model\": \"llama3.1\", \"messages\": [{\"role\": \"user\", \"content\": \"Why is the sky blue?\"}]}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/inference.local", "tool": "https://letme.dev/open-webui" }, "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Open WebUI Inc.", "domain": "openwebui.com", "domainRegistered": "2024-02-17", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://openwebui.com/terms", "privacy": "https://openwebui.com/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-03", "notes": [ "The LICENSE copyright line names Open WebUI Inc., created by Timothy Jaeryang Baek, and the privacy policy names Open WebUI, Inc. with no address.", "openwebui.com/.well-known/security.txt points to GitHub Security Advisories and expires on 2027-06-30.", "The privacy policy, last updated on 31 December 2025, covers openwebui.com and its community services only, says nothing about the self-hosted software, and gives no retention periods.", "We found no status page linked from openwebui.com. There's no hosted service, so an instance answers on its owner's own host.", "RDAP for openwebui.com gives a registration date of 2024-02-17, registrar Cloudflare. The terms page wasn't read for this check." ], "score": 76 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-webui.json", "live": { "slug": "open-webui", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "open-webui/open-webui", "version": "v0.11.4", "released": "2026-09-21", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:23:23.514992236Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "open-webui", "version": "0.11.4", "released": "2026-09-21", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:23:23.308399663Z" } ], "githubStars": 154214, "pypiWeekly": 160246, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://openwebui.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-06-30T00:00:00Z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:36.883295476Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.openwebui.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:42.85056463Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "openwebui.com", "registered": "2024-02-17", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/openwebui.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:06:48.742159254Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-webui/open-webui/main/CHANGELOG.md", "kind": "changelog", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:24:35.718320509Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "3c27bf8cc8f9" }, { "url": "https://openwebui.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:22:41.670167526Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "ab8757357aa3" }, { "url": "https://openwebui.com/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:22:44.619195054Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "87cd832136e7" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T18:24:35.718320509Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "SDK + MCP", "b": "Model platform", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Microsoft", "b": "Open WebUI Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT for the SDKs and the v2 native runtime. The CLI is closed source under Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Execution providers carry NVIDIA, Intel and Qualcomm licences, and each model carries its own", "b": "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", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-29", "b": "2026-09-21", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "2026-07-07", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "2025-12-31", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes, with an opt-out", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "2.6k stars, 105k npm/wk, 47k PyPI/wk", "b": "153k stars", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2.5/5 (2)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Foundry Local or Open WebUI?" }, { "answer": "Foundry Local is open source (MIT for the SDKs and the v2 native runtime. The CLI is closed source under Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Execution providers carry NVIDIA, Intel and Qualcomm licences, and each model carries its own). No open-source release is listed for Open WebUI.", "question": "Are Foundry Local and Open WebUI open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Agent ergonomics, 61 against 54", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 20" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Free to start without a card", "Open source", "No incidents deducted, where Open WebUI loses 8 points for them" ], "goodFor": "An application that ships a model to end users' Windows, macOS or Linux devices and wants NPU and GPU variants chosen automatically, especially on Windows.", "slug": "foundry-local", "watchFor": "The local server takes no credential, and its routes include model load and unload and `POST /shutdown`" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 60 against 53", "Security \u0026 auth, 63 against 39" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "open-webui", "watchFor": "API keys are off by default, and each user gets one key with no scopes or expiry" } ], "job": { "capability": "inference.local", "name": "Local inference" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-foundry-local.json", "title": "AnythingLLM vs Foundry Local", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-foundry-local" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "AnythingLLM vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-foundry-local.json", "title": "Docker Model Runner vs Foundry Local", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-foundry-local" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "Docker Model Runner vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ghost-core.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs Core", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ghost-core" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-gpt4all.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs GPT4All", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-gpt4all" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-jan.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs Jan", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-jan" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-khoj.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs Khoj", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-khoj" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-koboldcpp.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs KoboldCpp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-koboldcpp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lemonade.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs Lemonade", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lemonade" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-llama-cpp.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs llama.cpp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-llama-cpp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lm-studio.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs LM Studio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lm-studio" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-localai.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs LocalAI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-localai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-mlx-lm.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs MLX LM", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-mlx-lm" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ollama.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs Ollama", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ollama" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-screenpipe.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs screenpipe", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-screenpipe" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-text-generation-webui.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs TextGen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-text-generation-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "Core vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "GPT4All vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "Jan vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/khoj-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "Khoj vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/khoj-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/koboldcpp-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "KoboldCpp vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/koboldcpp-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lemonade-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "Lemonade vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lemonade-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "llama.cpp vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "LM Studio vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "LocalAI vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "MLX LM vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ollama-vs-open-webui.json", "title": "Ollama vs Open WebUI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ollama-vs-open-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/open-webui-vs-screenpipe.json", "title": "Open WebUI vs screenpipe", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/open-webui-vs-screenpipe" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/open-webui-vs-text-generation-webui.json", "title": "Open WebUI vs TextGen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/open-webui-vs-text-generation-webui" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-underdog.json", "title": "Foundry Local vs Underdog", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-underdog" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 0, "edge": "", "foundry-local": 68, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "open-webui": 68, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "open-webui", "foundry-local": 53, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "open-webui": 60, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "foundry-local", "foundry-local": 61, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "open-webui": 54, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 24, "edge": "open-webui", "foundry-local": 39, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "open-webui": 63, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 40, "edge": "foundry-local", "foundry-local": 60, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "open-webui": 20, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 3, "edge": "open-webui", "foundry-local": 88, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "open-webui": 91, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "foundry-local", "foundry-local": 72, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "open-webui": 71, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do local inference.", "verdicts": { "foundry-local": "The SDK and its native runtime are MIT, at 2.1.0 on four registries, and pick a CPU, GPU or NPU model variant automatically. The optional local server has no credential, its current routes aren't in the published REST reference, and telemetry is on by default with an opt-out.", "open-webui": "Five releases in the 90 days to 3 October 2026, each with a dated changelog entry that warns of database migrations. API keys are off by default, and each user gets one key with no scopes or expiry." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui.min.md" }, "markdown": "Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do local inference.\n\n- Foundry Local: grade C, 60.5/100, rank #461 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/foundry-local.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/foundry-local.json\n- Open WebUI: grade D, 51.8/100, rank #664 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-webui.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/open-webui.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Foundry Local (C)\n\nGood for: An application that ships a model to end users' Windows, macOS or Linux devices and wants NPU and GPU variants chosen automatically, especially on Windows.\n\nAhead on:\n- Agent ergonomics, 61 against 54\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 20\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Free to start without a card\n- Open source\n- No incidents deducted, where Open WebUI loses 8 points for them\n\nWatch for: The local server takes no credential, and its routes include model load and unload and `POST /shutdown`\n\n### Open WebUI (D)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 60 against 53\n- Security \u0026 auth, 63 against 39\n\nWatch for: API keys are off by default, and each user gets one key with no scopes or expiry\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Foundry Local | Open WebUI | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 68 | 68 | even |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 53 | 60 | Open WebUI +7 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 54 | Foundry Local +7 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 39 | 63 | Open WebUI +24 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 20 | Foundry Local +40 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 91 | Open WebUI +3 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 71 | Foundry Local +1 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -8 | |\n| **Total** | | **60.5 · C** | **51.8 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Foundry Local | Open WebUI |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | SDK + MCP | Model platform |\n| Vendor | Microsoft | Open WebUI Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | None | API key |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT for the SDKs and the v2 native runtime. The CLI is closed source under Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Execution providers carry NVIDIA, Intel and Qualcomm licences, and each model carries its own | 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 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-21 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-07-07 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2025-12-31 |\n| Customer content may train models | | yes, with an opt-out |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes |\n| Popularity | 2.6k stars, 105k npm/wk, 47k PyPI/wk | 153k stars |\n| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Foundry Local.** The SDK and its native runtime are MIT, at 2.1.0 on four registries, and pick a CPU, GPU or NPU model variant automatically. The optional local server has no credential, its current routes aren't in the published REST reference, and telemetry is on by default with an opt-out.\n\n**Open WebUI.** Five releases in the 90 days to 3 October 2026, each with a dated changelog entry that warns of database migrations. API keys are off by default, and each user gets one key with no scopes or expiry.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Foundry Local\n\n1. Read the server URL from `manager.urls[0]` or `foundry server status`. The port is dynamic unless the owner sets `web.urls` or `foundry server start --port`\n2. Send the model ID that `GET /v1/models` returns, not the alias. The alias resolves to a hardware-specific variant\n3. Check `supportsToolCalling` before sending tools. Support differs by variant, and issue #1183 reports Qwen tool calling failing on QNN\n4. Set your own request timeout. Inference has no built-in one, and cancellation takes effect only after the current generation step\n5. Ask the owner to set `ORT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1` or `disableNonessentialTelemetry` before the manager is created if telemetry must be off\n\n### Open WebUI\n\n1. Ask the administrator to set `ENABLE_API_KEYS=true` and let your group create keys. `sk-` keys are refused until then\n2. Send OpenAI's request shape to `/api/chat/completions` with a Bearer key, or use `x-api-key` behind a proxy that takes `Authorization` for itself\n3. Call `/api/models` first and use an `id` from it. Model IDs depend on the instance's connections\n4. Poll `GET /api/v1/files/{id}/process/status` until it reads `completed` before adding a file to a knowledge base\n5. Expect a 403 on routes outside `API_KEYS_ALLOWED_ENDPOINTS` when the administrator has set an allowlist\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Foundry Local or Open WebUI?\n\nFoundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.\n\n### Are Foundry Local and Open WebUI open source?\n\nFoundry Local is open source (MIT for the SDKs and the v2 native runtime. The CLI is closed source under Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Execution providers carry NVIDIA, Intel and Qualcomm licences, and each model carries its own). No open-source release is listed for Open WebUI.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"foundry-local\", \"b\": \"open-webui\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare foundry-local open-webui`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/foundry-local.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/open-webui.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Foundry Local or Open WebUI\n\n- [AnythingLLM vs Foundry Local](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-foundry-local.md)\n- [AnythingLLM vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Docker Model Runner vs Foundry Local](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-foundry-local.md)\n- [Docker Model Runner vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-model-runner-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs Core](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ghost-core.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-gpt4all.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-jan.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-khoj.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs KoboldCpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-koboldcpp.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs Lemonade](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lemonade.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-llama-cpp.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-lm-studio.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-localai.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs MLX LM](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-mlx-lm.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-ollama.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-screenpipe.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs TextGen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-text-generation-webui.md)\n- [Core vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [GPT4All vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gpt4all-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Jan vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jan-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Khoj vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/khoj-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [KoboldCpp vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/koboldcpp-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Lemonade vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lemonade-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [llama.cpp vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [LM Studio vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lm-studio-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [LocalAI vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/localai-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [MLX LM vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mlx-lm-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Ollama vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ollama-vs-open-webui.md)\n- [Open WebUI vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/open-webui-vs-screenpipe.md)\n- [Open WebUI vs TextGen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/open-webui-vs-text-generation-webui.md)\n- [Foundry Local vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-underdog.md)\n\n## Disclosure\n\n- Open WebUI competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds, and LocalGhost's own about page names it as a competitor. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Foundry Local vs Open WebUI", "url": "" } ], "description": "Foundry Local scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against Open WebUI's 51.8 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Open WebUI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do local inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Foundry Local C 60.5", "Open WebUI D 51.8", "scores" ], "h1": "Foundry Local vs Open WebUI", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-foundry-local-vs-open-webui.png", "path": "/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Foundry Local vs Open WebUI for AI agents, C 60.5 vs D 51.8", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/foundry-local-vs-open-webui" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2800, "slim": 830 }, "version": 1 }