head to head · open source
Khoj vs brain.md
Khoj has 37,492 GitHub stars, 2,493 forks, 148 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. brain.md has 553 stars, 51 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. Khoj leads on adoption by 6,680% (37,492 vs 553 stars). Khoj is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; brain.md is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. Khoj has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, brain.md 9%. brain.md 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
| Khoj | brain.md | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 553 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-02 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 51 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Khoj if
- You weight community size — 37K 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 brain.md if
- You want the brain.md feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and brain.md fits your workflow better
About Khoj
Khoj is a self hostable, open source AI second brain written in Python that turns any local or online large language model into a personal research, automation, and agent platform for individuals, small teams, and enterprises that want their documents and queries kept under their own control.
About brain.md
brain.md is an open, agent agnostic, file based memory layer for coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex, distributed as a zero dependency JavaScript CLI under the Apache 2.0 licence, and it is aimed at developers and teams who want a project's durable decisions, requirements and constraints to survive beyond a single chat session.
read the full brain.md overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Khoj or brain.md more popular?
Khoj has 37,492 GitHub stars and brain.md has 553. Khoj has the larger community by that measure.
Are Khoj and brain.md free?
Both are open source. Khoj is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and brain.md under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Khoj and brain.md?
Khoj is written in Python and brain.md in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Khoj or brain.md?
Choose Khoj if you want the larger community (37,492 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose brain.md if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.