specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Open WebUI
providerId: open-webui
created: '2026-05-08'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-08, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-08'
reconciled: true
tags:
- LLM
- Open Source
- Self-Hosted
- Ollama
- Chat UI
- RAG
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FOCUS-aligned FinOps profile for Open WebUI. The software itself is free. Real cost lines are: (1)
  compute and storage for the Open WebUI container and any local model storage, (2) GPU compute for
  Ollama or local model inference, and (3) per-token spend on connected commercial LLM backends.
  Optimize by right-sizing GPU, routing low-stakes prompts to cheaper models, and caching common
  prompts/RAG queries.
notes: Free OSS; cost is your compute/GPU/storage + upstream LLM token spend.
sources:
- https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Open WebUI
serviceCategory: LLM Tooling
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Free / Self-Host
  billingFrequency: N/A (project) / Variable (infra)
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Open WebUI
  ServiceCategory: LLM Tooling
  ProviderName: Open WebUI
  PublisherName: Open WebUI
  InvoiceIssuerName: N/A
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
meters:
- name: compute_hours
  description: Compute hours for the Open WebUI container.
  unit: hour
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - instance
- name: gpu_hours
  description: GPU hours for local inference (Ollama, llama.cpp, etc.).
  unit: hour
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - model
- name: upstream_tokens
  description: Tokens billed by upstream LLM provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.).
  unit: token
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - provider
  - model
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Monitor container, GPU, and upstream LLM usage; consolidate into a single dashboard.
- name: Allocation
  description: Allocate by user/team using Open WebUI's user/group features.
- name: Optimization
  description: Route low-stakes chats to cheap local Ollama models; reserve expensive providers for hard tasks.
- name: Accountability
  description: Platform/infra team owns the Open WebUI deployment; AI team owns prompt/model choice.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com