head to head · open source
DB-GPT vs PixelRAG
DB-GPT has 20,014 GitHub stars, 2,936 forks, 439 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. PixelRAG has 10,029 stars, 863 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. DB-GPT leads on adoption by 100% (20,014 vs 10,029 stars). DB-GPT is written in Python under MIT; PixelRAG is written in Python under Apache-2.0. DB-GPT has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, PixelRAG 9%. DB-GPT was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (rag), 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
| DB-GPT | PixelRAG | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 10K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 863 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick DB-GPT if
- You weight community size — 20K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick PixelRAG if
- You want the PixelRAG feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and PixelRAG fits your workflow better
About DB-GPT
DB GPT is an open source, MIT licensed agentic AI data assistant written in Python that connects to databases, CSV and Excel files, warehouses, and knowledge bases so large language models can write SQL and code, run reusable skills in sandboxed environments, and turn analysis into charts, dashboards, HTML reports, and written insights.
read the full DB-GPT overview →
About PixelRAG
PixelRAG is the official open source codebase for the paper "PIXELRAG: Web Screenshots Beat Text for Retrieval Augmented Generation," an Apache 2.0 Python project from Berkeley SkyLab, BAIR and Berkeley NLP that renders web pages, PDFs and images to screenshot tiles and retrieves over those images instead of parsed text, built for RAG engineers, agent developers and researchers who need tables, charts, diagrams and layout to survive retrieval.
read the full PixelRAG overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is DB-GPT or PixelRAG more popular?
DB-GPT has 20,014 GitHub stars and PixelRAG has 10,029. DB-GPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are DB-GPT and PixelRAG free?
Both are open source. DB-GPT is licensed under MIT and PixelRAG under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between DB-GPT and PixelRAG?
DB-GPT is written in Python and PixelRAG 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, DB-GPT or PixelRAG?
Choose DB-GPT if you want the larger community (20,014 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose PixelRAG if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.