FastGPT alternatives
Short answer
We track 8 self-hosted alternatives to FastGPT: AnythingLLM, RAGFlow, PrivateGPT, Open Notebook, Onyx (formerly Danswer), MaxKB, Dify and Coze Studio.
AnythingLLM (same category): lighter official minimum (2 GB vs 4 GB RAM), fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional), larger community (67.4k vs 29.9k GitHub stars) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
RAGFlow (same category): fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional) and larger community (92.6k vs 29.9k GitHub stars).
PrivateGPT (same category): fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional) and larger community (57.6k vs 29.9k GitHub stars).
Last updated · how we rank · sources
FastGPT alternatives compared
| # | App | Advantages over FastGPT | Est. server cost | Official hardware | License | Stars | Last commit | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | FastGPT (this app) | Active | 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 22, 2026 | — |
| 1 | AnythingLLM Same category | lighter official minimum (2 GB vs 4 GB RAM); fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional); larger community (67.4k vs 29.9k 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 | 67.4k | Oct 22, 2026 | FastGPT vs AnythingLLM |
| 2 | RAGFlow Same category | fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional); larger community (92.6k vs 29.9k GitHub stars) Trade-off: FastGPT has cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo) | from €69.99/mo | recommended 4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 50 GB disk (no separate minimum published) | Apache-2.0 | 92.6k | Oct 22, 2026 | FastGPT vs RAGFlow |
| 3 | PrivateGPT Same category | fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional); larger community (57.6k vs 29.9k GitHub stars) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | Apache-2.0 | 57.6k | Oct 20, 2026 | FastGPT vs PrivateGPT |
| 4 | Open Notebook Same category | fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 4 GB RAM | MIT | 40.5k | Oct 5, 2026 | FastGPT vs Open Notebook |
| 5 | Onyx (formerly Danswer) Same category | fewer license conditions (Open core vs Custom / conditional) Trade-off: FastGPT has cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo); lighter official minimum (4 GB vs 10 GB RAM) | 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) | 32.8k | Oct 22, 2026 | FastGPT vs Onyx (formerly Danswer) |
| 6 | MaxKB Same category | simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack) Trade-off: FastGPT has cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €35.99/mo); lighter official minimum (4 GB vs 8 GB RAM) | from €35.99/mo | minimum 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB disk | GPL-3.0 | 23.0k | Oct 21, 2026 | FastGPT vs MaxKB |
| 7 | Dify Visual knowledge-base and workflow platforms | larger community (159k vs 29.9k GitHub stars) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM | Dify Open Source License (modified Apache-2.0) | 159k | Oct 22, 2026 | FastGPT vs Dify |
| 8 | Coze Studio Visual knowledge-base and workflow platforms | fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM | Apache-2.0 | 21.7k | Jul 29, 2026 | FastGPT vs Coze Studio |
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.
- MaxKB (Knowledge base & RAG): Enterprise knowledge-base and agent platform with RAG and workflows.
- Dify (AI app & agent builders): Visual platform for building LLM apps, RAG chatbots, agents and workflows. Why it is listed: All of them combine a document knowledge base (RAG) with a visual builder for Q&A, agent or workflow apps.
- Coze Studio (AI app & agent builders): Open-source edition of ByteDance's Coze agent-building platform. Why it is listed: All of them combine a document knowledge base (RAG) with a visual builder for Q&A, agent or workflow apps.
FastGPT alternatives: FAQ
What is the best self-hosted alternative to FastGPT?
By our objective ranking: 1. AnythingLLM (lighter official minimum (2 GB vs 4 GB RAM); fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional); larger community (67.4k vs 29.9k GitHub stars); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack)) 2. RAGFlow (fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional); larger community (92.6k vs 29.9k GitHub stars)) 3. PrivateGPT (fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional); larger community (57.6k vs 29.9k 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 FastGPT?
Not by our estimate. FastGPT: from €19.99/mo. 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), MaxKB (from €35.99/mo), Dify (from €19.99/mo), Coze Studio (from €19.99/mo).
Which FastGPT alternative has the most permissive license?
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); Coze Studio: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). FastGPT is FastGPT Open Source License (Apache-2.0 with conditions) (Custom / conditional). Not legal advice.
Which FastGPT alternative needs the least hardware?
AnythingLLM: minimum 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 5 GB disk. FastGPT: minimum 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM (recommended 2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM).
Which SaaS products does FastGPT replace?
In our mapping, FastGPT is a self-hosted alternative to Intercom Fin and Zendesk AI, with gaps listed on each comparison page.
Related
Sources
- FastGPT GitHub repository: github.com/labring/FastGPT
- FastGPT documentation, FastGPT hardware requirements: doc.fastgpt.io/self-host/deploy/docker
- FastGPT license: github.com/labring/FastGPT/blob/main/LICENSE
- FastGPT deploy instructions: github.com/labring/FastGPT#readme
- 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
- MaxKB GitHub repository: github.com/1Panel-dev/MaxKB
- Dify GitHub repository: github.com/langgenius/dify
- Coze Studio GitHub repository: github.com/coze-dev/coze-studio
- 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