head to head · open source
Khoj vs iwe
Khoj has 37,470 GitHub stars, 2,490 forks, 148 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. iwe has 1,715 stars, 88 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Khoj leads on adoption by 2,085% (37,470 vs 1,715 stars). Khoj is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; iwe is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Khoj has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, iwe 5%. iwe 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 | iwe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-08-02 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 88 |
| 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 iwe if
- You want the iwe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and iwe 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 iwe
IWE is a local first Rust tool that turns a directory of Markdown files into a knowledge graph, serving the same notes to your editor through a language server and to AI agents through a CLI and MCP server — it is built for anyone who wants database style queries over plain notes they continue to own.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Khoj or iwe more popular?
Khoj has 37,470 GitHub stars and iwe has 1,715. Khoj has the larger community by that measure.
Are Khoj and iwe free?
Both are open source. Khoj is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and iwe under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Khoj and iwe?
Khoj is written in Python and iwe in Rust. 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 iwe?
Choose Khoj if you want the larger community (37,470 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose iwe if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.