head to head · open source
txtai vs knowhere
txtai has 13,062 GitHub stars, 962 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. knowhere has 3,891 stars, 337 forks, 40 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. txtai leads on adoption by 236% (13,062 vs 3,891 stars). txtai is written in Python under Apache-2.0; knowhere is written in Python under Apache-2.0. txtai has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, knowhere 9%. txtai was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-agents), 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
| txtai | knowhere | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 962 | ⑂ 337 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick txtai if
- You weight community size — 13K 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 knowhere if
- You want the knowhere feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and knowhere fits your workflow better
About txtai
All in one AI framework txtai is an all in one AI framework for semantic search, LLM orchestration and language model workflows. The key component of txtai is an embeddings database, which is a union of vector indexes (sparse and dense), graph networks and relational databases. This foundation enables vector search and/or serves as a powerful knowledge source for large language model (LLM) applications. Build autonomous agents, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) processes, multi model workflows and more. Summary of txtai features: 🔎 Vector search with SQL, object storage, topic modeling, graph analysis and…
read the full txtai overview →
About knowhere
Prepare unstructured data for AI Agents 🔗 Website 📄 Docs 🏠 Self Host 🖥️ Dashboard Overview Knowhere is a document parsing and retrieval system that turns complex, dirty files into persistent, navigable memory for AI agents—especially across local and offline document collections. It ingests unstructured documents and produces persistent, navigable memory: parsing, hierarchy reconstruction, multi modal structuring, and graph construction in a single pipeline. Every result stays connected to its document, section, source pages, and related assets, making the output a natural fit for Agentic RAG , vector based…
read the full knowhere overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is txtai or knowhere more popular?
txtai has 13,062 GitHub stars and knowhere has 3,891. txtai has the larger community by that measure.
Are txtai and knowhere free?
Both are open source. txtai is licensed under Apache-2.0 and knowhere under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between txtai and knowhere?
txtai is written in Python and knowhere 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, txtai or knowhere?
Choose txtai if you want the larger community (13,062 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose knowhere if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.