head to head · open source
AnythingLLM vs reins
AnythingLLM has 67,103 GitHub stars, 7,501 forks, 311 open issues and last shipped today. reins has 550 stars, 91 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AnythingLLM leads on adoption by 12,101% (67,103 vs 550 stars). AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript under MIT; reins is written in Dart under GPL-3.0. AnythingLLM has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, reins 17%. 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 | reins | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 550 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.5K | ⑂ 91 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AnythingLLM if
- You weight community size — 67K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick reins if
- You want the reins feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and reins 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 reins
Reins is a private, local AI chat app for iPhone, iPad and Mac that connects to Ollama, LM Studio or any OpenAI compatible server, or runs MLX and Apple Foundation Models on device, and it is built for Apple users who want LLM conversations without an account, without cloud uploads and without data collection.
read the full reins overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AnythingLLM or reins more popular?
AnythingLLM has 67,103 GitHub stars and reins has 550. AnythingLLM has the larger community by that measure.
Are AnythingLLM and reins free?
Both are open source. AnythingLLM is licensed under MIT and reins under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AnythingLLM and reins?
AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript and reins in Dart. 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 reins?
Choose AnythingLLM if you want the larger community (67,103 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose reins if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.