head to head · open source
PaddleOCR vs LightRAG
PaddleOCR has 92,143 GitHub stars, 11,613 forks, 243 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. LightRAG has 40,487 stars, 5,752 forks, 222 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. PaddleOCR leads on adoption by 128% (92,143 vs 40,487 stars). PaddleOCR is written in Python under Apache-2.0; LightRAG is written in Python under MIT. PaddleOCR has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, LightRAG 14%. LightRAG 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
| PaddleOCR | LightRAG | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 92K | ★ 40K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 5.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PaddleOCR if
- You weight community size — 92K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick LightRAG if
- You want the LightRAG feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and LightRAG fits your workflow better
About PaddleOCR
Global Leading OCR Toolkit & Document AI Engine English 简体中文 繁體中文 日本語 한국어 Français Русский Español العربية PaddleOCR converts PDF documents and images into structured, LLM ready data (JSON/Markdown) with industry leading accuracy. With 70k+ Stars and trusted by top tier projects like Dify, RAGFlow, and Cherry Studio, PaddleOCR is the bedrock for building intelligent RAG and Agentic applications. 🚀 Key Features 📄 Intelligent Document Parsing (LLM Ready) Transforming messy visuals into structured data for the LLM era. SOTA Document VLM : Featuring PaddleOCR VL 1.6 (0.9B) , the industry's leading lightweight…
read the full PaddleOCR overview →
About LightRAG
🚀 LightRAG: Simple and Fast Retrieval Augmented Generation 🎉 News [2026.07]🎯[New Feature]: Add Smart Heading recognition feature for word documents. [2026.05]🎯[New Feature]: Merge RagAnything into LightRAG 🎉. Multimodal content parsing and extraction via MinerU / Docling services. [2026.05]🎯[New Feature]: Introducing four selectable text chunking strategies: Fix , Recursive , Vector , and Paragraph . [2026.05]🎯[New Feature]: Role specific LLM configuration support, 4 distinct roles: EXTRACT, QUERY, KEYWORDS, and VLM, with independent LLM settings. [2026.03]🎯[New Feature]: Integrated OpenSearch as a…
read the full LightRAG overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PaddleOCR or LightRAG more popular?
PaddleOCR has 92,143 GitHub stars and LightRAG has 40,487. PaddleOCR has the larger community by that measure.
Are PaddleOCR and LightRAG free?
Both are open source. PaddleOCR is licensed under Apache-2.0 and LightRAG under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PaddleOCR and LightRAG?
PaddleOCR is written in Python and LightRAG 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, PaddleOCR or LightRAG?
Choose PaddleOCR if you want the larger community (92,143 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose LightRAG if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.