RAGFlow alternatives
Short answer
We track 8 self-hosted alternatives to RAGFlow: AnythingLLM, MaxKB, Dify, Open Notebook, FastGPT, Coze Studio, PrivateGPT and Onyx (formerly Danswer).
AnythingLLM (same category): cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
MaxKB (same category): cheaper to host (from €35.99/mo vs €69.99/mo) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
Dify (visual knowledge-base and workflow platforms): cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo) and larger community (159k vs 92.6k GitHub stars).
Last updated · how we rank · sources
RAGFlow alternatives compared
| # | App | Advantages over RAGFlow | Est. server cost | Official hardware | License | Stars | Last commit | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | RAGFlow (this app) | Active | 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 | — |
| 1 | AnythingLLM Same category | cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo); 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 | RAGFlow vs AnythingLLM |
| 2 | MaxKB Same category | cheaper to host (from €35.99/mo vs €69.99/mo); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack) Trade-off: RAGFlow has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Copyleft (GPL)); larger community (92.6k vs 23.0k GitHub stars) | from €35.99/mo | minimum 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB disk | GPL-3.0 | 23.0k | Oct 21, 2026 | RAGFlow vs MaxKB |
| 3 | Dify Visual knowledge-base and workflow platforms | cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo); larger community (159k vs 92.6k GitHub stars) Trade-off: RAGFlow has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM | Dify Open Source License (modified Apache-2.0) | 159k | Oct 22, 2026 | RAGFlow vs Dify |
| 4 | Open Notebook Same category | cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo) Trade-off: RAGFlow has larger community (92.6k vs 40.5k GitHub stars) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 4 GB RAM | MIT | 40.5k | Oct 5, 2026 | RAGFlow vs Open Notebook |
| 5 | FastGPT Same category | cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo) Trade-off: RAGFlow has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Custom / conditional); larger community (92.6k vs 29.9k GitHub stars) | 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 | RAGFlow vs FastGPT |
| 6 | Coze Studio Visual knowledge-base and workflow platforms | cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo) Trade-off: RAGFlow has larger community (92.6k vs 21.7k GitHub stars) | from €19.99/mo | minimum 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM | Apache-2.0 | 21.7k | Jul 29, 2026 | RAGFlow vs Coze Studio |
| 7 | PrivateGPT Same category | None in our data (differs in features) Trade-off: RAGFlow has larger community (92.6k vs 57.6k GitHub stars) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | Apache-2.0 | 57.6k | Oct 20, 2026 | RAGFlow vs PrivateGPT |
| 8 | Onyx (formerly Danswer) Same category | None in our data (differs in features) Trade-off: RAGFlow has fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Open core); larger community (92.6k vs 32.8k GitHub stars) | 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 | RAGFlow vs Onyx (formerly Danswer) |
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.
- 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.
- Open Notebook (Knowledge base & RAG): Private, self-hosted alternative to Google NotebookLM with your choice of AI models.
- FastGPT (Knowledge base & RAG): Knowledge-base Q&A and visual AI workflow platform.
- 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.
- PrivateGPT (Knowledge base & RAG): API-first private document Q&A that sits on top of your own LLM server.
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) (Knowledge base & RAG): AI chat and enterprise search connected to 50+ workplace apps.
RAGFlow alternatives: FAQ
What is the best self-hosted alternative to RAGFlow?
By our objective ranking: 1. AnythingLLM (cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack)) 2. MaxKB (cheaper to host (from €35.99/mo vs €69.99/mo); simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack)) 3. Dify (cheaper to host (from €19.99/mo vs €69.99/mo); larger community (159k vs 92.6k 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 RAGFlow?
Yes, by estimated server cost: AnythingLLM (from €19.99/mo), MaxKB (from €35.99/mo), Dify (from €19.99/mo), Open Notebook (from €19.99/mo), FastGPT (from €19.99/mo), Coze Studio (from €19.99/mo). RAGFlow: from €69.99/mo.
Which RAGFlow alternative has the most permissive license?
None has fewer conditions than RAGFlow (Apache-2.0 (Permissive)). Alternatives: AnythingLLM: MIT (Permissive); MaxKB: GPL-3.0 (Copyleft (GPL)); Dify: Dify Open Source License (modified Apache-2.0) (Custom / conditional); Open Notebook: MIT (Permissive); FastGPT: FastGPT Open Source License (Apache-2.0 with conditions) (Custom / conditional); Coze Studio: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); PrivateGPT: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); Onyx (formerly Danswer): MIT (Community Edition) + Onyx Enterprise License (ee directories) (Open core). Not legal advice.
Related
Sources
- RAGFlow GitHub repository: github.com/infiniflow/ragflow
- RAGFlow documentation, RAGFlow hardware requirements, RAGFlow deploy instructions: github.com/infiniflow/ragflow#-get-started
- RAGFlow license: github.com/infiniflow/ragflow/blob/main/LICENSE
- AnythingLLM GitHub repository: github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm
- MaxKB GitHub repository: github.com/1Panel-dev/MaxKB
- Dify GitHub repository: github.com/langgenius/dify
- Open Notebook GitHub repository: github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook
- FastGPT GitHub repository: github.com/labring/FastGPT
- Coze Studio GitHub repository: github.com/coze-dev/coze-studio
- PrivateGPT GitHub repository: github.com/zylon-ai/private-gpt
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) GitHub repository: github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx
- 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