head to head · open source
Dify vs unstract
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars, 25,336 forks, 1,067 open issues and last shipped yesterday. unstract has 7,402 stars, 747 forks, 96 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dify leads on adoption by 2,065% (160,251 vs 7,402 stars). Dify is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; unstract is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Dify has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, unstract 10%. unstract 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
| Dify | unstract | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 160K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 747 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dify if
- You weight community size — 160K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick unstract if
- You want the unstract feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and unstract fits your workflow better
About Dify
Dify Cloud · Self hosting · Documentation · Dify edition overview Dify is an open source LLM app development platform. Its intuitive interface combines AI workflow, RAG pipeline, agent capabilities, model management, observability features (including Opik, Langfuse, and Arize Phoenix) and more, letting you quickly go from prototype to production. Here's a list of the core features: Quick start Before installing Dify, make sure your machine meets the following minimum system requirements: CPU = 2 Core RAM = 4 GiB The easiest way to start the Dify server is through Docker Compose. Before running Dify with the…
About unstract
Unstract Turn Unstructured Documents into Structured Data Documentation Enterprise What is Unstract? Unstract uses LLMs to extract structured JSON from documents — PDFs, images, scans, you name it. Define what you want to extract using natural language prompts, and deploy as an API or ETL pipeline. Built for teams in finance , insurance , healthcare , KYC/compliance , and much more. Current State vs. Unstract ⭐ If Unstract helps you, star this repo! ✨ Key Features Prompt Studio — Define document extraction schemas with natural language. Docs → API Deployment — Send a document over REST API, get JSON back. Docs →…
read the full unstract overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dify or unstract more popular?
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars and unstract has 7,402. Dify has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dify and unstract free?
Both are open source. Dify has no licence declared in this registry, and unstract is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Dify and unstract?
Dify is written in Python and unstract 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, Dify or unstract?
Choose Dify if you want the larger community (160,251 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose unstract if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.