# TextGen

Product · https://godooo.ai/en/product/textgen

> TextGen is an open-source AI app, launched in 2022, made for developers and people who don't write code.

A desktop app and web UI for running local LLMs, with chat, vision, tool calling and an API.

Main jobs: Chat and Q&A, Run models locally. It is open source and free to use. You can use it as a desktop app, in the browser, on your own server, offline on your own machine and through an API.

## At a glance

- **Type:** [Product](https://godooo.ai/en/browse#product)
- **Launched:** 2022
- **Galaxy:** [Assistants](https://godooo.ai/en/galaxy/assistants)
- **Pricing:** Open source, free
- **Open source:** Yes · AGPL-3.0
- **Source code:** [github.com/oobabooga/textgen](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen)
- **GitHub stars:** 47,701
- **How you run it:** Desktop · Web · Self-host · Runs offline · API
- **Made for:** Developers · No-code users
- **Website:** [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen)
- **Also known as:** text-generation-webui · oobabooga

## What it can do

- **[Chat and Q&A](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/chat)** — main job, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “Chat & generation - instruct mode for instruction-following (like ChatGPT), and chat-instruct / chat modes for talking to custom characters.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen), 2026-09-24)
- **[Run models locally](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/local-inference)** — main job, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “A desktop app for local LLMs. Open source, no telemetry. Text, vision, tool-calling, web search. UI + API.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen), 2026-09-24)
- **[Character chat](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/character-chat)** — supported, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “chat-instruct / chat modes for talking to custom characters” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen), 2026-09-24)
- **[Image understanding](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/image-understanding)** — supported, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “Vision (multimodal) : Attach images to messages for visual understanding” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen), 2026-09-24)
- **[LLM API](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/llm-api)** — supported, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible API : Chat, Completions, and Messages endpoints with tool-calling support.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen), 2026-09-24)
- **[Web search with answers](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/web-search)** — supported, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “Tool-calling : Models can call custom functions during chat, including web search, page fetching, and math.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen), 2026-09-24)

## Alternatives

- **[LM Studio](https://godooo.ai/en/product/lm-studio)** (Free): Also does: Run models locally, Chat and Q&A, LLM API
- **[Qwen](https://godooo.ai/en/model/qwen)** (Open source, free): Also does: Chat and Q&A, LLM API, Image understanding
- **[Jan](https://godooo.ai/en/product/jan)** (Open source, free): Also does: Chat and Q&A, Run models locally, LLM API
- **[Phi](https://godooo.ai/en/model/phi)** (Open source, free): Also does: Chat and Q&A, Run models locally, LLM API
- **[Gemini](https://godooo.ai/en/model/gemini)**: Also does: Chat and Q&A, Image understanding, LLM API
- **[Llama](https://godooo.ai/en/model/llama)** (Open source, free): Also does: Chat and Q&A, LLM API, Run models locally
- **[GLM](https://godooo.ai/en/model/glm)** (Open source, free): Also does: Chat and Q&A, LLM API, Run models locally
- **[Mixtral](https://godooo.ai/en/model/mixtral)** (Open source, free): Also does: Chat and Q&A, LLM API, Run models locally
- **[WebLLM](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/webllm)** (Open source, free): Also does: LLM API, Run models locally, Chat and Q&A
- **[Claude](https://godooo.ai/en/model/claude)**: Also does: Chat and Q&A, LLM API, Image understanding
- **[GPT](https://godooo.ai/en/model/gpt)**: Also does: Chat and Q&A, LLM API, Image understanding
- **[GPT-4](https://godooo.ai/en/model/gpt-4)**: Also does: Chat and Q&A, LLM API, Image understanding

## Connections

- **Uses:** [Transformers](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/transformers), [llama.cpp](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/llama-cpp)

## Questions

### What is TextGen?

TextGen is an open-source AI app, launched in 2022, made for developers and people who don't write code. A desktop app and web UI for running local LLMs, with chat, vision, tool calling and an API.

### Is TextGen free?

Yes. TextGen is open source (AGPL-3.0) and free to use.

### Is TextGen open source?

Yes, under the AGPL-3.0 license. The source code is at https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen.

### Can TextGen run locally?

Yes. TextGen can run offline on your own machine. It can also be self-hosted on your own server.

### What can TextGen do?

Main jobs: Chat and Q&A, Run models locally. It can also do: Character chat, Image understanding, LLM API, Web search with answers.

### What are open-source alternatives to TextGen?

Open-source ones: Qwen, Jan, Phi, Llama, GLM, Mixtral and WebLLM. Others: LM Studio, Gemini, Claude, GPT and GPT-4.

## Sources

- [github.com](https://github.com/oobabooga/textgen) — checked 2026-09-24

---

Last updated 2026-09-24 · sources checked 2026-09-24 · Markdown version of https://godooo.ai/en/product/textgen. Every page on this site has one: add .md to its address.