head to head · open source
odysseus vs k-dense-byok
odysseus has 87,371 GitHub stars, 907 forks, 1,233 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. k-dense-byok has 1,236 stars, 153 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. odysseus leads on adoption by 6,969% (87,371 vs 1,236 stars). odysseus is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; k-dense-byok is written in TypeScript under MIT. odysseus has attracted 1% as many forks as stars, k-dense-byok 12%. odysseus 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
| odysseus | k-dense-byok | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 87K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 907 | ⑂ 153 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick odysseus if
- You weight community size — 87K 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 k-dense-byok if
- You want the k-dense-byok feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and k-dense-byok fits your workflow better
About odysseus
Odysseus is a self hosted AI workspace written in Python and released under the AGPL 3.0 or later licence, built for people who want chat, agents, research, documents, email, notes, tasks, and calendar in one deployment on infrastructure they control.
read the full odysseus overview →
About k-dense-byok
K Dense BYOK is a free, MIT licensed, local first desktop AI research assistant for scientists in any field, which runs on your own computer and works through the AI accounts and API keys you already hold.
read the full k-dense-byok overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is odysseus or k-dense-byok more popular?
odysseus has 87,371 GitHub stars and k-dense-byok has 1,236. odysseus has the larger community by that measure.
Are odysseus and k-dense-byok free?
Both are open source. odysseus is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and k-dense-byok under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between odysseus and k-dense-byok?
odysseus is written in Python and k-dense-byok in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, odysseus or k-dense-byok?
Choose odysseus if you want the larger community (87,371 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose k-dense-byok if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.