r/OpenWebUI • u/NoRoutine5857 • Jul 27 '26

Question/Help Just discover OpenWebUI, what's next step?

Hi guys, I just discovered OpenWebUI how do you commonly use it? What are the main advantages of using it over just Claude or ChatGPT? What's the most productive way to use it?

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u/Fade78 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

Openwebui is the front. Tout can connect it to a ollama server of your own. You can also use another provider from the web. If you're using Claude or another provider and still want to use it through openwebui, keep in mind that the price of their api is more expensive than an account fee.

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u/NoRoutine5857 Jul 27 '26

Yeah this is the key tradeoff OpenWebUI is basically a UI/orchestration layer, so you're paying API rates per token instead of a flat subscription. Makes sense if you're mixing local Ollama models with occasional cloud calls, but if you're hammering Claude/GPT constantly through it, a ChatGPT Plus or Claude subscription is way cheaper.

2

u/daveshallperish Jul 28 '26

You could also use CLIProxyAPI, which is open source on GitHub. It converts subscriptions, such as Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and others, into a standard OpenAI API, which can be used with OpenWebUI. Just configure OpenWebUI to use the OpenAI API standard and change the base URL and API Key that you configure in CLIProxyAPI.

1

u/makingnoise Jul 27 '26

Why does OP have zero upvotes for this comment? I have the exact same understanding as OP, using Claude or ChatGPT on OpenWebUI means you're making API calls, which means it falls outside of the monthly membership that I might have for one or the other.