Langchain-Chatchat alternatives
Short answer
We track 13 self-hosted alternatives to Langchain-Chatchat: AnythingLLM, RAGFlow, AFFiNE, kotaemon, MaxKB, PrivateGPT, Open Notebook, LightRAG, WeKnora, Onyx (formerly Danswer), FastGPT, DocsGPT and PipesHub.
Langchain-Chatchat has had no commit since Nov 10, 2025, which is one reason to look at alternatives.
AnythingLLM (same category): an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale), larger community (67.8k vs 38.7k GitHub stars) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
RAGFlow (same category): an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) and larger community (93.2k vs 38.7k GitHub stars).
AFFiNE (same category): an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) and larger community (74.0k vs 38.7k GitHub stars).
Last updated · how we rank · sources
Langchain-Chatchat alternatives compared
| # | App | Advantages over Langchain-Chatchat | Est. server cost | Official hardware | License | Stars | Last commit | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Langchain-Chatchat (this app) | Stale (no commit in 180+ days) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | Apache-2.0 | 38.7k | Nov 10, 2025 | — |
| 1 | AnythingLLM Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); larger community (67.8k vs 38.7k 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 | 67.8k | Oct 30, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs AnythingLLM |
| 2 | RAGFlow Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); larger community (93.2k vs 38.7k GitHub stars) | from €69.99/mo | recommended 4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 50 GB disk (no separate minimum published) | Apache-2.0 | 93.2k | Oct 31, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs RAGFlow |
| 3 | AFFiNE Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); larger community (74.0k vs 38.7k GitHub stars) Trade-off: Langchain-Chatchat has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Open core) | from €35.99/mo | recommended 4 vCPU · 2 GB RAM (no separate minimum published) | MIT (Community Edition) with Enterprise Edition license for server code | 74.0k | Oct 27, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs AFFiNE |
| 4 | kotaemon Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); 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 | Langchain-Chatchat vs kotaemon |
| 5 | MaxKB Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack) Trade-off: Langchain-Chatchat has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Copyleft (GPL)); larger community (38.7k vs 23.1k GitHub stars) | from €35.99/mo | minimum 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB disk | GPL-3.0 | 23.1k | Oct 30, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs MaxKB |
| 6 | PrivateGPT Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | Apache-2.0 | 57.6k | Oct 29, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs PrivateGPT |
| 7 | Open Notebook Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 4 GB RAM | MIT | 41.0k | Oct 5, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs Open Notebook |
| 8 | LightRAG Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | MIT | 40.4k | Oct 14, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs LightRAG |
| 9 | WeKnora Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) | from €35.99/mo | recommended 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM (no separate minimum published) | MIT (with third-party components) | 36.1k | Oct 30, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs WeKnora |
| 10 | Onyx (formerly Danswer) Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) Trade-off: Langchain-Chatchat 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) | 33.1k | Oct 31, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs Onyx (formerly Danswer) |
| 11 | FastGPT Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) Trade-off: Langchain-Chatchat 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) | 30.0k | Oct 30, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs FastGPT |
| 12 | DocsGPT Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) Trade-off: Langchain-Chatchat has larger community (38.7k vs 18.4k GitHub stars) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | MIT | 18.4k | Oct 30, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs DocsGPT |
| 13 | PipesHub Same category | an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale) Trade-off: Langchain-Chatchat has larger community (38.7k vs 3.9k GitHub stars) | from €35.99/mo | minimum 8 GB RAM (recommended 16 GB RAM) | Apache-2.0 | 3.9k | Oct 31, 2026 | Langchain-Chatchat vs PipesHub |
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.
- AFFiNE (Knowledge base & RAG): Notion- and Miro-style workspace (docs, whiteboards, databases) with built-in AI, self-hostable with Docker.
- 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.
- 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.
- LightRAG (Knowledge base & RAG): Graph-based RAG server that builds a knowledge graph from your documents, with a web UI and REST API.
- WeKnora (Knowledge base & RAG): Tencent's open-source knowledge-base and agent platform with document parsing, RAG and team workspaces.
- 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.
- DocsGPT (Knowledge base & RAG): Open-source platform for AI agents and assistants that answer from your documents with sources.
- PipesHub (Knowledge base & RAG): Self-hosted workplace search and AI answers across 50+ connected apps, filtered by each user's permissions.
Langchain-Chatchat alternatives: FAQ
What is the best self-hosted alternative to Langchain-Chatchat?
By our objective ranking: 1. AnythingLLM (an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); larger community (67.8k vs 38.7k GitHub stars); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack)) 2. RAGFlow (an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); larger community (93.2k vs 38.7k GitHub stars)) 3. AFFiNE (an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale); larger community (74.0k vs 38.7k 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 Langchain-Chatchat?
Not by our estimate. Langchain-Chatchat: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Alternatives: AnythingLLM (from €19.99/mo), RAGFlow (from €69.99/mo), AFFiNE (from €35.99/mo), kotaemon (not estimated (no official RAM figure)), MaxKB (from €35.99/mo), PrivateGPT (not estimated (no official RAM figure)), Open Notebook (from €19.99/mo), LightRAG (not estimated (no official RAM figure)), WeKnora (from €35.99/mo), Onyx (formerly Danswer) (from €69.99/mo), FastGPT (from €19.99/mo), DocsGPT (not estimated (no official RAM figure)), PipesHub (from €35.99/mo).
Which Langchain-Chatchat alternative has the most permissive license?
None has fewer conditions than Langchain-Chatchat (Apache-2.0 (Permissive)). Alternatives: AnythingLLM: MIT (Permissive); RAGFlow: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); AFFiNE: MIT (Community Edition) with Enterprise Edition license for server code (Open core); kotaemon: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); MaxKB: GPL-3.0 (Copyleft (GPL)); PrivateGPT: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); Open Notebook: MIT (Permissive); LightRAG: MIT (Permissive); WeKnora: MIT (with third-party components) (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); DocsGPT: MIT (Permissive); PipesHub: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Not legal advice.
Is Langchain-Chatchat still maintained?
Stale (no commit in 180+ days). Last commit: Nov 10, 2025. Checked Oct 31, 2026.
Related
Sources
- Langchain-Chatchat GitHub repository: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat
- Langchain-Chatchat documentation: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat#readme
- Langchain-Chatchat license: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat/blob/master/LICENSE
- Langchain-Chatchat hardware requirements: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat#0-软硬件要求
- Langchain-Chatchat deploy instructions: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat#pip-安装部署
- AnythingLLM GitHub repository: github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm
- RAGFlow GitHub repository: github.com/infiniflow/ragflow
- AFFiNE GitHub repository: github.com/toeverything/AFFiNE
- kotaemon GitHub repository: github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon
- MaxKB GitHub repository: github.com/1Panel-dev/MaxKB
- PrivateGPT GitHub repository: github.com/zylon-ai/private-gpt
- Open Notebook GitHub repository: github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook
- LightRAG GitHub repository: github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG
- WeKnora GitHub repository: github.com/Tencent/WeKnora
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) GitHub repository: github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx
- FastGPT GitHub repository: github.com/labring/FastGPT
- DocsGPT GitHub repository: github.com/arc53/DocsGPT
- PipesHub GitHub repository: github.com/pipeshub-ai/pipeshub-ai
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-25): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub stars and commits: GitHub REST API, refreshed daily