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AI chat

Free and open-source ChatGPT alternatives

ChatGPT (OpenAI's AI assistant for chat, code and research) is a commercial product. These 4 tools do the same job and are free to use or to self-host.
Short answer: the best free alternatives to ChatGPT are Open WebUI, LibreChat, Jan and Ollama. Self-hosting is free; you pay only for the server (a small VPS is about $4–6/mo). Licenses and prices checked 2026-10-01.
  1. 1
    Open WebUI

    Self-hosted AI chat interface for Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs

    Self-hosted chat UI for Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs.

    Source-available (Open WebUI License (BSD-3 + branding)) ·★ 154k GitHub stars · last commit 2026-10-07 · details

  2. 2
    LibreChat

    Open-source ChatGPT-style UI for many AI providers

    ChatGPT-style web UI for many AI providers, self-hosted.

    Open source (MIT) ·★ 45k GitHub stars · last commit 2026-10-07 · details

  3. 3
    Jan

    Open-source desktop app to run LLMs locally

    Desktop app that runs open models on your own computer.

    Open source (Apache-2.0) ·★ 45k GitHub stars · last commit 2026-10-07 · details

  4. 4
    Ollama

    Run open language models locally

    Run open models locally from the command line or an API.

    Open source (MIT) ·★ 182k GitHub stars · last commit 2026-10-07 · details

Want paid options too? See all ChatGPT alternatives or the full free alternatives list. Beyond developer tools, OSS Software lists more open-source ChatGPT alternatives.

FAQ

Is there a free alternative to ChatGPT?+

Yes. Open WebUI, LibreChat, Jan and Ollama do the same job for free; LibreChat, Jan and Ollama are open source.

What is the best open-source alternative to ChatGPT?+

Ollama is the most starred on GitHub (182k stars). Run open models locally from the command line or an API.

Are these ChatGPT alternatives open source?+

LibreChat, Jan and Ollama are under OSI-approved licenses. Open WebUI (Open WebUI License (BSD-3 + branding)) is source-available: free to self-host, with limits in the license.

Open source: OSI-approved license. Free to self-host: the code is public and free to run yourself, with limits in the license.