head to head · open source
AnythingLLM vs kotaemon
AnythingLLM has 67,862 GitHub stars, 7,658 forks, 311 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. kotaemon has 25,849 stars, 2,164 forks, 247 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. AnythingLLM leads on adoption by 163% (67,862 vs 25,849 stars). AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript under MIT; kotaemon is written in Python under Apache-2.0. AnythingLLM has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, kotaemon 8%. AnythingLLM 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
| AnythingLLM | kotaemon | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 68K | ★ 26K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-07-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.7K | ⑂ 2.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AnythingLLM if
- You weight community size — 68K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kotaemon if
- You want the kotaemon 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 kotaemon fits your workflow better
About AnythingLLM
[!NOTE] We are also working on Open Computer which gives an entire computer environment for AI Agents to use. This will bring AnythingLLM's agent capabilities to a new level and a novel UX paradigm for AI Agent use. ⭐ Star the repo to stay updated! AnythingLLM: The all in one AI app you were looking for. Chat with your docs, use AI Agents, hyper configurable, multi user, & no frustrating setup required. Docs Hosted Instance English · 简体中文 · 日本語 👉 AnythingLLM for desktop (Mac, Windows, & Linux)! Download Now Chat with your docs. Automate complex workflows with AI Agents. Hyper configurable, multi user ready…
read the full AnythingLLM overview →
About kotaemon
kotaemon An open source clean & customizable RAG UI for chatting with your documents. Built with both end users and developers in mind. Live Demo 1 Live Demo 2 Online Install Colab Notebook (Local RAG) User Guide Developer Guide Feedback Contact Introduction This project serves as a functional RAG UI for both end users who want to do QA on their documents and developers who want to build their own RAG pipeline. For end users Clean & Minimalistic UI : A user friendly interface for RAG based QA. Support for Various LLMs : Compatible with LLM API providers (OpenAI, AzureOpenAI, Cohere, etc.) and local LLMs (via…
read the full kotaemon overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AnythingLLM or kotaemon more popular?
AnythingLLM has 67,862 GitHub stars and kotaemon has 25,849. AnythingLLM has the larger community by that measure.
Are AnythingLLM and kotaemon free?
Both are open source. AnythingLLM is licensed under MIT and kotaemon under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AnythingLLM and kotaemon?
AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript and kotaemon 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, AnythingLLM or kotaemon?
Choose AnythingLLM if you want the larger community (67,862 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose kotaemon if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.