Onyx (Danswer) vs Open WebUI
An open-source enterprise AI assistant and search (formerly Danswer) that connects to your company's apps — Slack, Drive, Confluence, GitHub — to answer questions over internal knowledge. Self-hostable, secure and free.
🧠 Expert verdict
Our expert verdict: Open WebUI is the stronger all-round choice, scoring 4.7/5 versus 4.5/5 for Onyx (Danswer), and it stands out for "ChatGPT-style UI you fully own". Choose Open WebUI if you want the best chatbots tool overall, especially for private chatgpt alternative; pick Onyx (Danswer) if "Connects 40+ company apps" matters more for your workflow.
Onyx (Danswer)
An open-source enterprise AI assistant and search (formerly Danswer) that connects to your company's apps — Slack, Drive, Confluence, GitHub — to answer questions over internal knowledge. Self-hostable, secure and free.
Open WebUI
A self-hosted, ChatGPT-style web interface for local and API models. Open WebUI works with Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, adding chat history, documents (RAG), users and a polished UI — fully open source.
Onyx (Danswer)
✅ Pros
- +Connects 40+ company apps
- +Self-hostable (data stays yours)
- +Open-source alternative to Glean
- +Secure with permissions
- +Free to run yourself
❌ Cons
- −Setup for connectors/IT
- −Hosted cloud plan is paid
- −Best for teams, not individuals
- −Requires maintenance
Open WebUI
✅ Pros
- +ChatGPT-style UI you fully own
- +Works with Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs
- +Built-in document chat (RAG)
- +Multi-user with roles
- +Free and open source
❌ Cons
- −Requires self-hosting/setup
- −Best paired with Ollama or an API
- −No official mobile app
- −You manage updates and backups
🎯 Best for — Onyx (Danswer)
🎯 Best for — Open WebUI
🏷️ Tags — Onyx (Danswer)
🏷️ Tags — Open WebUI
Our Verdict
After comparing ratings, pricing and features, Open WebUI comes out ahead with a 4.7/5 rating. It is the better choice for most users.
Expert take on each tool
📌 Onyx (Danswer)
Onyx (formerly Danswer) is the leading open-source alternative to Glean: connect your company apps and get a secure, self-hosted AI assistant over internal knowledge. Ideal for teams that want enterprise search without sending data to a vendor cloud.
📌 Open WebUI
Open WebUI is the best open-source front-end for private AI chat: pair it with Ollama and you get a polished, ChatGPT-like experience that runs entirely on your own hardware, with document chat and user management built in.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better: Onyx (Danswer) or Open WebUI?
Open WebUI has the higher user rating (4.7/5 vs 4.5/5), making it the stronger overall pick. That said, Onyx (Danswer) can still be the better fit depending on your budget and specific needs — see the full comparison above.
Is Onyx (Danswer) or Open WebUI cheaper?
Open WebUI (Free / Open Source) is generally more budget-friendly than Onyx (Danswer) (Free (open source) / cloud plans). If cost is your main concern, Open WebUI is worth trying first — but compare the feature sets above to confirm it covers what you need.
Can I switch from Onyx (Danswer) to Open WebUI?
Yes — switching between Onyx (Danswer) and Open WebUI is usually straightforward since both are chatbots tools with similar core workflows. Most users can export their data and get started with Open WebUI within a day; just check Open WebUI's free plan before committing to a paid tier.