LibreChat is free to self-host, and Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System for the team that wants to own the whole system rather than rent a chat window. After the install, the two differ in what a team pays for, and in how much of it stays theirs.
Both chat UIs are free to self-host. Kortix is the open-source system to pick when the work goes past chat.
A project is a git repo with kortix.yaml at its root.A session runs one agent in its own sandbox.The sandbox clones the repo and works on a new branch.The agent opens a change request against the project's default branch.A person with the project.gitops.merge permission reviews it and merges it.The agents, the memory, and the connectors are files in a repo you own.
LibreChat is free to self-host. Its own site calls it a free, open-source AI platform and states there are no subscriptions, so nothing is paid for the software itself (LibreChat). The Docker quick start brings one instance up in about five minutes (LibreChat quick start), and the project runs a free public demo if you want to look first. Open WebUI makes the same promise on cost: it says it is free to use as-is for everyone (Open WebUI). So the direct answer to "is LibreChat free" is yes for the code. The cost question starts the moment it is running.
A self-hosted chat interface carries no software fee and no per-seat bill. Operating it is still your expense. The machine it runs on, the database and search service beside it, and the storage that keeps every conversation all sit on your bill. Model calls go to your provider account, or to local models on hardware you own. Time is the larger line: updates, backups, uptime and the security of a host that holds your team's conversations are yours to run. A laptop install costs almost nothing. An instance people depend on is a service you now operate.
With either chat interface, the team owns the application and its database. That is a real gain over a rented chat subscription, because the conversations stay on your infrastructure and the interface is yours to shape. What a chat front end does not hand you is a home for the rest of the work. Its agents live in the app's configuration rather than in files you can diff, and no repository carries how the company runs. When the next question is how work gets planned, reviewed and landed, a chat window has no answer.
Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, built for the team that wants the whole system rather than a chat surface. Your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors live in one git repo you own, so any change to them is a diff a person can read. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network; self-host is free. Any model provider with your own keys. Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine. Session work reaches main through a change request; merge is default-deny for agents.
The pricing follows the same split between free and paid. Free is $0 with 200 credits per month and 1 project. The team plan is $40 per seat per month with 2,500 credits per month per seat, pooled (Kortix pricing). You bring your own key or connect the ChatGPT plan you already pay for; managed models on Kortix keys are the paid option. The trade to weigh is plain. A chat interface costs nothing for the software and everything for the running, while Kortix charges for seats and compute and leaves your team with a system it owns.
If you want a familiar chat interface over your own data, with no software fee and a team willing to run it, LibreChat or Open WebUI will do the job. If the work you want done reaches past chat, if it needs agents that finish a task, memory that persists, and a review gate before anything lands, then a front end is one piece of a system you would still have to build around it. Kortix is built for that larger job: an open-source system where the agents and the approval gate live in one repo.
LibreChat alternatives · Kortix vs LibreChat · self-hosted LibreChat alternative
What the price and the running cost come down to in practice.
The software is free however many people use it. You pay for the server and the model access, not for the interface.
No. Self-host is free. The monthly credits cover sandbox compute on Kortix Cloud.
Yes. Any model provider with your own keys, or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for. Managed models on Kortix keys are paid.
Kortix is open source and runs on your own infrastructure too.
Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem