DocsGPT alternatives
Short answer
We track 8 self-hosted alternatives to DocsGPT: AnythingLLM, RAGFlow, PrivateGPT, Open Notebook, Onyx (formerly Danswer), FastGPT, kotaemon and MaxKB.
AnythingLLM (same category): larger community (67.5k vs 18.3k GitHub stars) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
RAGFlow (same category): larger community (92.8k vs 18.3k GitHub stars).
PrivateGPT (same category): larger community (57.6k vs 18.3k GitHub stars).
Last updated · how we rank · sources
DocsGPT alternatives compared
| # | App | Advantages over DocsGPT | Est. server cost | Official hardware | License | Stars | Last commit | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | DocsGPT (this app) | Active | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | MIT | 18.3k | Oct 24, 2026 | — |
| 1 | AnythingLLM Same category | larger community (67.5k vs 18.3k GitHub stars); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 5 GB disk | MIT | 67.5k | Oct 23, 2026 | DocsGPT vs AnythingLLM |
| 2 | RAGFlow Same category | larger community (92.8k vs 18.3k GitHub stars) | from €69.99/mo | recommended 4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 50 GB disk (no separate minimum published) | Apache-2.0 | 92.8k | Oct 23, 2026 | DocsGPT vs RAGFlow |
| 3 | PrivateGPT Same category | larger community (57.6k vs 18.3k GitHub stars) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | Apache-2.0 | 57.6k | Oct 23, 2026 | DocsGPT vs PrivateGPT |
| 4 | Open Notebook Same category | larger community (40.5k vs 18.3k GitHub stars) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 4 GB RAM | MIT | 40.5k | Oct 5, 2026 | DocsGPT vs Open Notebook |
| 5 | Onyx (formerly Danswer) Same category | larger community (32.9k vs 18.3k GitHub stars) Trade-off: DocsGPT has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Open core) | from €69.99/mo | minimum 4 vCPU · 10 GB RAM · 32 GB disk (recommended 8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 500 GB disk) | MIT (Community Edition) + Onyx Enterprise License (ee directories) | 32.9k | Oct 23, 2026 | DocsGPT vs Onyx (formerly Danswer) |
| 6 | FastGPT Same category | larger community (29.9k vs 18.3k GitHub stars) Trade-off: DocsGPT has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM (recommended 2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM) | FastGPT Open Source License (Apache-2.0 with conditions) | 29.9k | Oct 24, 2026 | DocsGPT vs FastGPT |
| 7 | kotaemon Same category | simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | Apache-2.0 | 25.8k | May 30, 2026 | DocsGPT vs kotaemon |
| 8 | MaxKB Same category | simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack) Trade-off: DocsGPT has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Copyleft (GPL)) | from €35.99/mo | minimum 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB disk | GPL-3.0 | 23.0k | Oct 21, 2026 | DocsGPT vs MaxKB |
Ranked by the number of objective advantages each alternative has over the app (cheaper estimated server cost, lighter official RAM figure, no GPU needed, fewer license conditions, better maintenance status, at least 1.5× the GitHub stars, simpler deploy). Ties: same-category apps first, then more GitHub stars. License order used: Permissive (MIT/Apache) → Open core → Copyleft (GPL) or Custom conditions → Network copyleft (AGPL) → Source-available. Archived projects are not listed as alternatives.
What each alternative is
- AnythingLLM (Knowledge base & RAG): All-in-one private chat with your documents, agents and an embeddable widget.
- RAGFlow (Knowledge base & RAG): RAG engine with deep document parsing (OCR, layout and tables) and cited answers.
- PrivateGPT (Knowledge base & RAG): API-first private document Q&A that sits on top of your own LLM server.
- Open Notebook (Knowledge base & RAG): Private, self-hosted alternative to Google NotebookLM with your choice of AI models.
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) (Knowledge base & RAG): AI chat and enterprise search connected to 50+ workplace apps.
- FastGPT (Knowledge base & RAG): Knowledge-base Q&A and visual AI workflow platform.
- kotaemon (Knowledge base & RAG): Open-source RAG web app for chatting with your documents, with citations and GraphRAG.
- MaxKB (Knowledge base & RAG): Enterprise knowledge-base and agent platform with RAG and workflows.
DocsGPT alternatives: FAQ
What is the best self-hosted alternative to DocsGPT?
By our objective ranking: 1. AnythingLLM (larger community (67.5k vs 18.3k GitHub stars); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack)) 2. RAGFlow (larger community (92.8k vs 18.3k GitHub stars)) 3. PrivateGPT (larger community (57.6k vs 18.3k GitHub stars)). "Best" depends on the features you need; the ranking only counts cost, hardware, license, maintenance, community size and deploy complexity.
Is there a cheaper alternative to DocsGPT?
Not by our estimate. DocsGPT: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Alternatives: AnythingLLM (from €19.99/mo), RAGFlow (from €69.99/mo), PrivateGPT (not estimated (no official RAM figure)), Open Notebook (from €19.99/mo), Onyx (formerly Danswer) (from €69.99/mo), FastGPT (from €19.99/mo), kotaemon (not estimated (no official RAM figure)), MaxKB (from €35.99/mo).
Which DocsGPT alternative has the most permissive license?
None has fewer conditions than DocsGPT (MIT (Permissive)). Alternatives: AnythingLLM: MIT (Permissive); RAGFlow: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); PrivateGPT: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); Open Notebook: MIT (Permissive); Onyx (formerly Danswer): MIT (Community Edition) + Onyx Enterprise License (ee directories) (Open core); FastGPT: FastGPT Open Source License (Apache-2.0 with conditions) (Custom / conditional); kotaemon: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); MaxKB: GPL-3.0 (Copyleft (GPL)). Not legal advice.
Related
Sources
- DocsGPT GitHub repository: github.com/arc53/DocsGPT
- DocsGPT documentation: docs.docsgpt.cloud/
- DocsGPT license: github.com/arc53/DocsGPT/blob/main/LICENSE
- DocsGPT hardware requirements, DocsGPT deploy instructions: docs.docsgpt.cloud/Deploying/Docker-Deploying
- AnythingLLM GitHub repository: github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm
- RAGFlow GitHub repository: github.com/infiniflow/ragflow
- PrivateGPT GitHub repository: github.com/zylon-ai/private-gpt
- Open Notebook GitHub repository: github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) GitHub repository: github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx
- FastGPT GitHub repository: github.com/labring/FastGPT
- kotaemon GitHub repository: github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon
- MaxKB GitHub repository: github.com/1Panel-dev/MaxKB
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-22): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub stars and commits: GitHub REST API, refreshed daily