head to head · open source
AnythingLLM vs waku-agent
AnythingLLM has 66,141 GitHub stars, 7,347 forks, 311 open issues and last shipped yesterday. waku-agent has 1,776 stars, 353 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AnythingLLM leads on adoption by 3,624% (66,141 vs 1,776 stars). AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript under MIT; waku-agent is written in Python under MIT. AnythingLLM has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, waku-agent 20%. waku-agent 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 | waku-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.3K | ⑂ 353 |
| 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 waku-agent if
- You want the waku-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and waku-agent 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 waku-agent
waku agent is a local first, MIT licensed Python AI agent harness for developers who want an assistant whose loop, memory and evaluation code they can read and own, rather than a hosted assistant that keeps those parts out of sight.
read the full waku-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AnythingLLM or waku-agent more popular?
AnythingLLM has 66,141 GitHub stars and waku-agent has 1,776. AnythingLLM has the larger community by that measure.
Are AnythingLLM and waku-agent free?
Both are open source. AnythingLLM is licensed under MIT and waku-agent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AnythingLLM and waku-agent?
AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript and waku-agent 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 waku-agent?
Choose AnythingLLM if you want the larger community (66,141 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose waku-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.