head to head · open source
llama_index vs selfhost-ai
llama_index has 52,779 GitHub stars, 8,500 forks, 770 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. selfhost-ai has 953 stars, 238 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. llama_index leads on adoption by 5,438% (52,779 vs 953 stars). llama_index is written in Python under MIT; selfhost-ai is written in Shell under Apache-2.0. llama_index has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, selfhost-ai 25%. selfhost-ai was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | selfhost-ai | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 53K | ★ 953 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-10-26 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.5K | ⑂ 238 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick llama_index if
- You weight community size — 53K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick selfhost-ai if
- You want the selfhost-ai feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and selfhost-ai fits your workflow better
About llama_index
🗂️ LlamaIndex (OSS Framework) 🦙 [!NOTE] The current focus of LlamaIndex is to build the best AI powered engine for document parsing and extraction. LlamaParse is our enterprise platform for agentic OCR, parsing, extraction, indexing and more. LiteParse represents our efforts to build the best free, fast, cheap text parser in the market. ParseBench and ExtractBench represent our commitment towards open benchmarking for parsing and extraction. The company itself has undergone an evolution since when this OSS framework first launched 3 years ago in 2023. Since the early days, the framework has consisted of a…
read the full llama_index overview →
About selfhost-ai
Selfhost AI — Self Hosted AI Automation Platform Deploy 30+ AI and automation tools with a single command. This open source Docker Compose template creates a complete self hosted environment with n8n (workflow automation), Flowise (AI agents), Ollama (local LLMs), vector databases (Qdrant, Weaviate), RAG engines, Supabase, monitoring stack, and more — all pre configured behind Caddy reverse proxy with automatic HTTPS. Plus, optionally import 300+ community workflows during setup! Table of Contents Key Features Why This Setup? What's Included Installation Quick Start and Usage Upgrading Quick Commands…
read the full selfhost-ai overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is llama_index or selfhost-ai more popular?
llama_index has 52,779 GitHub stars and selfhost-ai has 953. llama_index has the larger community by that measure.
Are llama_index and selfhost-ai free?
Both are open source. llama_index is licensed under MIT and selfhost-ai under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between llama_index and selfhost-ai?
llama_index is written in Python and selfhost-ai in Shell. 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 selfhost-ai?
Choose llama_index if you want the larger community (52,779 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose selfhost-ai if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.