Lobe Chat
Self-hostable chat workspace with multi-provider support, plugins, knowledge bases, and agents.
About
Lobe Chat grew from a multi-provider chat UI into LobeHub, an agent workspace with roughly 81k GitHub stars, one of the largest open source projects in the category; the repository now lives at github.com/lobehub/lobehub. The Next.js app connects OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, and GLM alongside local models through Ollama, and layers on an agent builder and marketplace, MCP-compatible plugins with thousands of listed skills, agent groups, knowledge bases with file upload, scheduled agent runs, an editable personal memory system, and pages, projects, and workspaces for organizing team output. Deployment is one-click on Vercel, Zeabur, or Sealos, or via Docker Compose with a database for persistence, no GPU required, and LobeHub also operates a hosted cloud edition. The code is public under the LobeHub Community License, an Apache-2.0 base with added conditions: self-hosting and unmodified commercial use are allowed, but distributing derivative works requires a commercial license. For teams wanting a self-hosted alternative to ChatGPT-style products with agent orchestration built in, it is among the most complete choices.
Should you use Lobe Chat?
Pick it when
Pick Lobe Chat when a team wants a self-hosted, polished agent workspace with an agent marketplace, MCP plugins, knowledge bases, scheduled agent runs, and shared projects, and can live with its community license terms.
Look elsewhere when
Skip it if you need to ship a modified or rebranded version, since distributing derivatives needs a commercial license; LibreChat is MIT. For one person, NextChat or Chatbox is far less to deploy and maintain.
Alternatives to Lobe Chat
- LibreChat
MIT licensed, so forks and rebrands are unrestricted, with multi-user auth, agents, and MCP, but less of an agent marketplace and workspace layer.
- Open WebUI
Stronger fit for Ollama and local models with built-in RAG and role-based accounts, though less focused on agent marketplaces and scheduled runs.
- big-AGI
MIT licensed personal workspace with Beam multi-model merging, lighter and freely forkable, but no team workspaces or agent marketplace.
- Cherry Studio
Desktop app with similar breadth, MCP and 300+ assistants, and no server to host, but per machine rather than a shared team workspace.
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Details
- Category
- UI & Chat Interfaces
- Price
- Freemium
- Platform
- Hybrid
- Difficulty
- Easy (2/5)
- License
- LobeHub Community License
- Added
- Jul 29, 2026