head to head · open source
AnythingLLM vs magentic
AnythingLLM has 66,233 GitHub stars, 7,362 forks, 311 open issues and last shipped yesterday. magentic has 2,425 stars, 127 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. AnythingLLM leads on adoption by 2,631% (66,233 vs 2,425 stars). AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript under MIT; magentic is written in Python under MIT. AnythingLLM has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, magentic 5%. AnythingLLM was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| AnythingLLM | magentic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-03-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.4K | ⑂ 127 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AnythingLLM if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick magentic if
- You want the magentic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and magentic fits your workflow better
About AnythingLLM
AnythingLLM is a local first AI application that enables users to chat with their documents using any large language model (LLM), local or cloud hosted. It runs as a self hosted service—by default in Docker—and provides a complete interface for document ingestion, agent orchestration, multi user access, and workflow automation without requiring external cloud dependencies. The project lives in the local AI and AI interaction ecosystem, targeting users who want full control over their data and model selection.
read the full AnythingLLM overview →
About magentic
magentic is an MIT licensed Python library that turns Large Language Model prompts into typed Python functions through the @prompt and @chatprompt decorators, aimed at Python developers who need structured, agentic LLM behavior inside ordinary application code.
read the full magentic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AnythingLLM or magentic more popular?
AnythingLLM has 66,233 GitHub stars and magentic has 2,425. AnythingLLM has the larger community by that measure.
Are AnythingLLM and magentic free?
Both are open source. AnythingLLM is licensed under MIT and magentic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AnythingLLM and magentic?
AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript and magentic in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AnythingLLM or magentic?
Choose AnythingLLM if you want the larger community (66,233 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose magentic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.