head to head · open source
graphrag vs neo4j
graphrag has 36,531 GitHub stars, 3,867 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped yesterday. neo4j has 17,386 stars, 2,835 forks, 252 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. graphrag leads on adoption by 110% (36,531 vs 17,386 stars). graphrag is written in Python under MIT; neo4j is written in Java under GPL-3.0. graphrag has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, neo4j 16%. graphrag was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| graphrag | neo4j | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.9K | ⑂ 2.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick graphrag if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick neo4j if
- You want the neo4j feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and neo4j fits your workflow better
About graphrag
GraphRAG [!WARNING] GraphRAG is a research project that explores the functional use of graphs to form a targeted context for question answering. Since our first release in July 2024 the capabilities of frontier models have changed dramatically, and our portfolio of research projects has diversified to match. This project is largely in maintenance mode, and won't be accepting new PRs or implementing new features. We'll perform bug fixes and dependency updates as appropriate, particularly to address CVEs as they arise. 👉 Microsoft Research Blog Post 👉 Read the docs 👉 GraphRAG Arxiv Overview The GraphRAG project…
read the full graphrag overview →
About neo4j
= Neo4j: Graphs for Everyone = is the world's leading Graph Database. It is a high performance graph store with all the features expected of a mature and robust database, like a friendly query language and ACID transactions. The programmer works with a flexible network structure of nodes and relationships rather than static tables yet enjoys all the benefits of enterprise quality database. For many applications, Neo4j offers orders of magnitude performance benefits compared to relational DBs. Learn more on the website]. users]] == Using Neo4j == Neo4j is available as a fully managed solution where you can get…
read the full neo4j overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is graphrag or neo4j more popular?
graphrag has 36,531 GitHub stars and neo4j has 17,386. graphrag has the larger community by that measure.
Are graphrag and neo4j free?
Both are open source. graphrag is licensed under MIT and neo4j under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between graphrag and neo4j?
graphrag is written in Python and neo4j in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, graphrag or neo4j?
Choose graphrag if you want the larger community (36,531 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose neo4j if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.