head to head · open source
AstrBot vs MaxKB
AstrBot has 45,662 GitHub stars, 3,350 forks, 1,516 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MaxKB has 23,095 stars, 3,210 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AstrBot leads on adoption by 98% (45,662 vs 23,095 stars). AstrBot is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; MaxKB is written in Python under GPL-3.0. AstrBot has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, MaxKB 14%. MaxKB was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (agent, chatbot, 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
| AstrBot | MaxKB | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 23K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 3.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AstrBot if
- You weight community size — 46K 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 MaxKB if
- You want the MaxKB feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and MaxKB fits your workflow better
About AstrBot
简体中文 ｜ 繁體中文 ｜ 日本語 ｜ Français ｜ Español ｜ Русский Documentation ｜ Blog ｜ Roadmap ｜ Issue Tracker ｜ Email Support AstrBot is an open source all in one Agent chatbot platform that integrates with mainstream instant messaging apps. It provides reliable and scalable conversational AI infrastructure for individuals, developers, and teams. Whether you're building a personal AI companion, intelligent customer service, automation assistant, or enterprise knowledge base, AstrBot enables you to quickly build production ready AI applications within your IM platform workflows. Key Features 1. 💯 Free & Open Source. 2. ✨ AI…
read the full AstrBot overview →
About MaxKB
Open source platform for building enterprise grade agents 强大易用的企业级智能体平台 [ 中文(简体) ] [ English ] MaxKB = Max Knowledge Brain, it is an open source platform for building enterprise grade agents. MaxKB integrates Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines, supports robust workflows, and provides advanced MCP tool use capabilities. MaxKB is widely applied in scenarios such as intelligent customer service, corporate internal knowledge bases, academic research, and education. RAG Pipeline : Supports direct uploading of documents / automatic crawling of online documents, with features for automatic text splitting…
read the full MaxKB overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AstrBot or MaxKB more popular?
AstrBot has 45,662 GitHub stars and MaxKB has 23,095. AstrBot has the larger community by that measure.
Are AstrBot and MaxKB free?
Both are open source. AstrBot is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and MaxKB under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AstrBot and MaxKB?
AstrBot is written in Python and MaxKB 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, AstrBot or MaxKB?
Choose AstrBot if you want the larger community (45,662 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose MaxKB if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.