head to head · open source
llama_index vs InferenceX
llama_index has 52,202 GitHub stars, 8,162 forks, 770 open issues and last shipped yesterday. InferenceX has 1,718 stars, 299 forks, 254 open issues and last shipped yesterday. llama_index leads on adoption by 2,939% (52,202 vs 1,718 stars). llama_index is written in Python under MIT; InferenceX is written in Python under Apache-2.0. llama_index has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, InferenceX 17%. llama_index 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
| llama_index | InferenceX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.2K | ⑂ 299 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick llama_index if
- You weight community size — 52K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick InferenceX if
- You want the InferenceX 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 InferenceX fits your workflow better
About llama_index
LlamaIndex is an MIT licensed, open source Python framework for building agentic applications — retrieval augmented generation systems, agents and multi agent workflows — on top of private documents and data, and it is aimed at AI engineers and teams who need to connect large language models to their own sources of context.
read the full llama_index overview →
About InferenceX
InferenceX is an open source continuous inference benchmark research platform written in Python under the Apache 2.0 license. It lives in the machine learning infrastructure ecosystem, where teams evaluate large language model serving frameworks and accelerator systems. Formerly named InferenceMAX, the project maintains a public dashboard and a benchmark repository that track performance as inference software and hardware change.
read the full InferenceX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is llama_index or InferenceX more popular?
llama_index has 52,202 GitHub stars and InferenceX has 1,718. llama_index has the larger community by that measure.
Are llama_index and InferenceX free?
Both are open source. llama_index is licensed under MIT and InferenceX under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between llama_index and InferenceX?
llama_index is written in Python and InferenceX 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, llama_index or InferenceX?
Choose llama_index if you want the larger community (52,202 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose InferenceX if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.