head to head · open source
DB-GPT vs R2R
DB-GPT has 20,014 GitHub stars, 2,936 forks, 439 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. R2R has 8,002 stars, 649 forks, 126 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. DB-GPT leads on adoption by 150% (20,014 vs 8,002 stars). DB-GPT is written in Python under MIT; R2R is written in Python under MIT. DB-GPT has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, R2R 8%. 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 | R2R | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 8.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2025-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 649 |
| 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 R2R if
- You want the R2R feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and R2R 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 R2R
R2R is an MIT licensed, Python based retrieval system from SciPhi AI that gives developers a RESTful API for agentic Retrieval Augmented Generation over their own documents, with official Python and JavaScript clients.
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Frequently asked questions
Is DB-GPT or R2R more popular?
DB-GPT has 20,014 GitHub stars and R2R has 8,002. DB-GPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are DB-GPT and R2R free?
Both are open source. DB-GPT is licensed under MIT and R2R under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between DB-GPT and R2R?
DB-GPT is written in Python and R2R 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 R2R?
Choose DB-GPT if you want the larger community (20,014 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose R2R if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.