head to head · open source
FastGPT vs Swirl Search
FastGPT has 29,694 GitHub stars, 7,319 forks, 172 open issues and last shipped today. Swirl Search has 3,045 stars, 286 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. FastGPT leads on adoption by 875% (29,694 vs 3,045 stars). FastGPT is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Swirl Search is written in Python under Apache-2.0. FastGPT has attracted 25% as many forks as stars, Swirl Search 9%. FastGPT 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
| FastGPT | Swirl Search | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.3K | ⑂ 286 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick FastGPT if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Swirl Search if
- You want the Swirl Search 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 Swirl Search fits your workflow better
About FastGPT
FastGPT is an open source AI knowledge base platform built on large language models (LLMs). It provides integrated tools for data ingestion, vector retrieval (RAG), and visual workflow orchestration, enabling users to construct and deploy question answering applications without writing extensive backend code. The platform runs on Next.js and supports integration with multiple LLM providers including OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek, Qwen, and others.
read the full FastGPT overview →
About Swirl Search
Swirl Search is an open source federated AI search and retrieval augmented generation (RAG) platform written in Python and built on Django. It lives in the AI and machine learning ecosystem, specifically the AI interaction and interface space, and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license as SWIRL Community. The project queries more than 100 connected sources live, ranks the combined results, and optionally generates an answer with citations using a large language model of the operator's choice. It ships with the Galaxy UI, the same interface used by the commercial SWIRL Enterprise edition.
read the full Swirl Search overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is FastGPT or Swirl Search more popular?
FastGPT has 29,694 GitHub stars and Swirl Search has 3,045. FastGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are FastGPT and Swirl Search free?
Both are open source. FastGPT has no licence declared in this registry, and Swirl Search is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between FastGPT and Swirl Search?
FastGPT is written in TypeScript and Swirl Search 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, FastGPT or Swirl Search?
Choose FastGPT if you want the larger community (29,694 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Swirl Search if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.