SillyTavern or Open WebUI?

SillyTavern if the job is character cards (Character.AI). Open WebUI if the job is ChatGPT/Claude-shaped chat (/replace/chatgpt). LibreChat if you want that MIT UI.

Do I still pay a model vendor?

Yes, unless you run local weights. SillyTavern is the UI. It is not free inference.

Stacks / AI chat

Medium

SillyTavern

Character chat you host. SillyTavern is AGPL-3.0 — Character.AI without the vendor character vault. Open WebUI stays the ChatGPT-shaped UI.

The problem

Character.AI is a hosted character-chat product. You wanted cards, lore, and a model you bring keys or weights for. SillyTavern is AGPL-3.0 (SillyTavern/SillyTavern) — an LLM frontend for power users. Open WebUI and LibreChat stay ChatGPT-shaped UIs (/replace/chatgpt, /replace/claude). This is not Character.AI's every community card, voice SKU, or hosted model. You still pay tokens or a GPU. Signal-server is not this page.

Replaces

Character.AI

Replace Character.AI See all best open-source LLM chat UIs

Estimated SaaS saved

$1,200

per year, small team, before lock-in

Start on Railway

Open WebUI if this is ChatGPT/Claude-shaped chat, not character cards

Sponsor this stack Tip jar

Placeholder: SillyTavern as a UI pointed at an OpenAI-compatible API (LiteLLM, Ollama, or a vendor). Persist configs. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. ChatGPT-shaped chat stays on /stacks/open-webui-litellm.

The stack

SillyTavern
AGPL-3.0 LLM frontend for character cards and power users
Catalog entry →
Open WebUI
ChatGPT-shaped UI if the job is not character roleplay
Catalog entry →
LibreChat
MIT ChatGPT-style UI with agents and MCP
Catalog entry →

Cost table

You stop paying	Typical / year	Self-host instead
Character.AI (plus model bills)	$1,200	SillyTavern + your models

Agent setup prompt

Replace Character.AI with SillyTavern pointed at models you bring.

- Official docs, persist config, point at LiteLLM or Ollama. Import one character card you actually use. Do not claim Character.AI's hosted model catalog.
- Open WebUI is /stacks/open-webui-litellm if the job is ChatGPT-shaped chat. Write AGENT_PROMPT.md.

Also as markdown: /stacks/sillytavern-roleplay.md

FAQ

SillyTavern or Open WebUI?: SillyTavern if the job is character cards (Character.AI). Open WebUI if the job is ChatGPT/Claude-shaped chat (/replace/chatgpt). LibreChat if you want that MIT UI.
Do I still pay a model vendor?: Yes, unless you run local weights. SillyTavern is the UI. It is not free inference.