head to head · open source
OpenViking vs Docs
OpenViking has 41,383 GitHub stars, 3,362 forks, 999 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Docs has 16,963 stars, 688 forks, 370 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenViking leads on adoption by 144% (41,383 vs 16,963 stars). OpenViking is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; Docs is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenViking has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Docs 4%. Docs was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (knowledge-base), 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
| OpenViking | Docs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 17K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 688 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenViking if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Docs if
- You want the Docs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Docs fits your workflow better
About OpenViking
The Context Database for AI Agents English / 中文 / 日本語 Website · Live Demo · GitHub · Issues · Docs · Blog Lark · WeChat · Discord · X What is OpenViking OpenViking is an open source context database for AI agents — one filesystem for everything an agent knows: knowledge, memory, and skills. Most agent memory is a black box: text goes in, embeddings come out, and nobody can see what was actually stored. OpenViking organizes context as a virtual filesystem under viking:// instead. Agents navigate it like files — ls , tree , read , write , grep — and you can open any directory to inspect and edit what your agent…
read the full OpenViking overview →
About Docs
Chat on Matrix • Documentation • Try Docs • Contact us La Suite Docs: Collaborative Text Editing Docs, where your notes can become knowledge through live collaboration. Docs is an open source collaborative editor that helps teams write, organize, and share knowledge together in real time. What is Docs? Docs is an open source alternative to tools like Notion or Google Docs, focused on: Real time collaboration Clean, structured documents Knowledge organization Data ownership & self hosting Built for public organizations, companies, and open communities. Why use Docs? Writing Rich text & Markdown editing Slash…
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenViking or Docs more popular?
OpenViking has 41,383 GitHub stars and Docs has 16,963. OpenViking has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenViking and Docs free?
Both are open source. OpenViking is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Docs under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenViking and Docs?
OpenViking is written in Python and Docs in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenViking or Docs?
Choose OpenViking if you want the larger community (41,383 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Docs if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.