Quick Answer: “Uuni” is the original name of the pizza oven company now called Ooni — the brand renamed itself in 2018 because the double-U in “Uuni” kept getting mispronounced or autocorrected to “Unni,” per Ooni’s own rebrand FAQ. It’s the same company, same engineering team, same ovens; only the spelling changed. If you’re shopping in 2026, every current model — Karu 2, Karu 2 Pro, Koda 2, Koda 2 Max, Volt 2 — sells under the Ooni name only, so any “Uuni” listing you find today is either a secondhand original or a mislabeled third-party listing.
If you searched “Uuni pizza oven” expecting to find a specific brand, you haven’t stumbled onto something obscure — you’ve found the earlier name of one of the two biggest pizza oven makers on the market. Here’s the actual history, what happened to each specific Uuni model, and what to buy if you want the modern equivalent.
Uuni-to-Ooni by the numbers
- 2012: the year Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland launched Uuni, backed by 142 Kickstarter supporters, as the world’s first portable wood-pellet-fired pizza oven — a category that barely existed for backyard cooks before this launch.
- 2018: the year the company officially became Ooni, per Ooni’s own “We Are Now Ooni” announcement — the rebrand was phased in gradually rather than overnight, so some Uuni-branded stock stayed on shelves for a while after the announcement.
- ~950°F: the peak stone temperature both the original Uuni 3/Uuni Pro and today’s current Ooni gas and multi-fuel ovens are rated to — the core engineering hasn’t changed, just the name on the box.
- 0: the number of pizza ovens Ooni currently sells under the “Uuni” name — the rebrand is fully complete across the entire current lineup as of 2026.
What each Uuni model became
| Original Uuni model | Became | Then discontinued, replaced by | Current equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uuni 3 (wood pellet) | Ooni 3 | Ooni Fyra 12 (now also discontinued) | Ooni Karu 2 (~$449, multi-fuel) |
| Uuni Pro (multi-fuel) | Ooni Pro | Ooni Karu 16 | Ooni Karu 2 Pro (~$849, multi-fuel) |
| Uuni 2 / Uuni 2S | Ooni 2 (early gas conversion kit era) | Ooni Koda line | Ooni Koda 2 (~$499, gas) |
None of the original Uuni models are still in production — the entire lineup has been through at least one full generational replacement since 2018, on top of the name change itself. If you want the closest thing to what a Uuni 3 or Uuni Pro delivered when new, buy the current Ooni equivalent rather than hunting for old Uuni-branded stock.
Ooni Karu 2 — closest current match to the original Uuni 3
- Reaches roughly 950°F, the same ceiling the Uuni 3/Ooni 3 pellet oven hit at launch.
- No pellet hopper to source parts for — burns wood or charcoal directly, or add the gas burner attachment for propane convenience.
- Current production with full manufacturer warranty and parts support, unlike a secondhand Uuni unit.
If you do end up ordering a current Ooni oven online, try Amazon Prime free for 30 days first — free two-day shipping turns a multi-week wait into a weekend project.
The short version of the rebrand
Uuni launched in 2012 as a genuinely new idea: a portable oven that used gravity-fed wood pellets instead of a full log fire to hit pizzeria-level heat in a backyard-sized footprint. It worked, and the brand grew fast through Uuni 2, Uuni 2S, Uuni 3, and the larger multi-fuel Uuni Pro. By 2018 the company had outgrown its own name — “Uuni” doesn’t read cleanly in English, and Ooni’s own FAQ specifically calls out autocorrect turning it into “Unni” as a real, recurring problem. The rename to Ooni kept the same “oo-nee” pronunciation while fixing the spelling trap, and the transition was gradual rather than an overnight switch, so early buyers kept using their original Uuni ovens under new company branding without any functional change.
Should you buy an old Uuni oven secondhand?
Only if the price reflects its age and you’re comfortable with zero manufacturer support. The core engineering hasn’t moved as far as you’d expect in over a decade — a well-maintained Uuni 3 or Uuni Pro still reaches roughly the same heat range as a current Ooni oven. What you give up is a warranty, current-production replacement parts, and — specifically on the pellet-fed Uuni 3/Ooni 3 — a fuel system Ooni no longer sells accessories for, since the company’s whole pellet line ended with the now- discontinued Fyra 12 (see our full Ooni Fyra 12 review for what replaced it). For most buyers in 2026, a current Ooni model is the safer purchase; a secondhand Uuni only makes sense as a specific budget play with eyes open about the trade-offs.
Not sure which current Ooni model actually fits your budget and fuel preference? Our best Ooni pizza oven guide ranks every model Ooni currently sells, and Ooni Koda vs Karu breaks down the gas-versus-multi-fuel decision the old Uuni 2S/Uuni 3 split effectively started.
The bottom line
“Uuni” isn’t a competing brand or a knockoff — it’s the original name of the company you already know as Ooni. The 2018 rebrand was a spelling fix, not an ownership change, and every model that carried the Uuni name has a direct current-production Ooni successor. If you’re shopping in 2026, skip the search for “Uuni” listings and buy the current Ooni model that matches what you were actually looking for — you’ll get the same engineering with a warranty behind it.
History confirmed against Ooni’s own “Uuni Becomes Ooni” and “We Are Now Ooni” brand announcements, cross-checked with independent reporting on the Uuni 3-to-Ooni 3-to-Fyra and Uuni Pro-to-Karu 16 product lineage (August 2026).