head to head · open source
quivr vs Kai
quivr has 39,624 GitHub stars, 3,731 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Kai has 1,330 stars, 211 forks, 127 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. quivr leads on adoption by 2,879% (39,624 vs 1,330 stars). quivr is written in Go under MIT; Kai is written in Kotlin under Apache-2.0. quivr has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Kai 16%. quivr was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, chatbot), 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
| quivr | Kai | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.7K | ⑂ 211 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick quivr if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Kai if
- You want the Kai feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and Kai fits your workflow better
About quivr
Quivr V2 An open source engine that turns continuous content streams into search and monitoring. Quivr V2 ingests content durably, makes it searchable within seconds, enriches it in the background and lets you follow a topic over time. The core stays generic: formats, AI models and business rules belong in plugins, so you can adapt Quivr to your domain without forking the platform. Status: evaluation stage. The API is v0 and may change without notice. Do not run it in production yet. Why Quivr V2 Durable before fast. A write is acknowledged only once it is committed; outages delay processing, they never lose or…
read the full quivr overview →
About Kai
Kai 9000 An open source AI assistant with persistent memory that runs on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and Web . Website Documentation Sponsor: Atlas Cloud Installation Homebrew (macOS): AUR (Arch Linux): Winget (Windows): Direct Downloads AI That Builds Screens, Not Just Text Kai 9000's Interactive UI lets the AI generate full interactive screens — quizzes, dashboards, recipes, brainstorms, and more. Navigate by tapping buttons instead of scrolling through chat. Features Persistent memory — Kai remembers important details across conversations and uses them automatically Customizable soul — Define the AI's…
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Frequently asked questions
Is quivr or Kai more popular?
quivr has 39,624 GitHub stars and Kai has 1,330. quivr has the larger community by that measure.
Are quivr and Kai free?
Both are open source. quivr is licensed under MIT and Kai under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between quivr and Kai?
quivr is written in Go and Kai in Kotlin. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, quivr or Kai?
Choose quivr if you want the larger community (39,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Kai if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.