head to head · open source
serviette vs cortexdb
serviette has 58,710 GitHub stars, 1,549 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. cortexdb has 501 stars, 32 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped today. serviette leads on adoption by 11,619% (58,710 vs 501 stars). serviette is written in Python under MIT; cortexdb is written in Go under MIT. serviette has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, cortexdb 6%. cortexdb 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
| serviette | cortexdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 501 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-10 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 32 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick serviette if
- You weight community size — 59K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cortexdb if
- You want the cortexdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and cortexdb fits your workflow better
About serviette
serviette Looking for llm app templates? All templates, cookbooks and examples are still available in full in the Pathway repository under examples/llm app . A no code, always up to date RAG server for any vector database — built on the Pathway Live Data Framework. Point serviette at a folder of documents, pick a vector database and an embedder in one YAML file, and run two commands: you get a chat and a REST API that answer from those documents and cite their sources. From then on, any change to the documents — an edit, a new file, a deletion — is reflected in the answers within seconds. serviette runs on…
read the full serviette overview →
About cortexdb
CortexDB AI memory and a knowledge graph in one SQLite file. Pure Go, no service to run, works without an embedding model. Install Use The plugin gives Claude Code and Codex one global brain at /.cortexdb/cortexdb.db , /remember , /recall and an auto recall hook. A session starts with an index of what the brain knows about its project, an agent about to open a file is told what happened to it before, and a session's durable facts are captured with text and credentials kept out. Point several agents or machines at one cortexdb grpc and they share the same memory and graph. In Codex, review and trust the plugin…
read the full cortexdb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is serviette or cortexdb more popular?
serviette has 58,710 GitHub stars and cortexdb has 501. serviette has the larger community by that measure.
Are serviette and cortexdb free?
Both are open source. serviette is licensed under MIT and cortexdb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between serviette and cortexdb?
serviette is written in Python and cortexdb in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, serviette or cortexdb?
Choose serviette if you want the larger community (58,710 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose cortexdb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.