Bionic
Self-hosted AI workspace with agents, RAG, teams, SSO and audit trails, built in Rust.
Quick answer
Bionic is a self-hosted AI workspace with agents, RAG, teams, SSO and audit trails, built in Rust, listed under Private ChatGPT-style chat. A typical small-business use: a private ChatGPT-style workspace for staff, with team-based permissions and an audit trail. The project publishes no official RAM figure, so we do not estimate a monthly server cost. License: Apache-2.0, which allows internal business use.
Last updated · facts verified against official docs on · sources
Activity data comes from GitHub and was last refreshed Oct 27, 2026.
What is Bionic?
Bionic is an open-source AI workspace for internal teams. It gives staff a chat interface with conversation history, connects hosted, private or local models, and adds RAG over datasets, a built-in tool runtime with sandboxed code execution, integrations, reusable skills and generated files. Teams, role-based permissions, SSO through OIDC, audit trails and usage controls are part of the open-source release. Production installs run on Kubernetes.
Where it fits in a 10–200 person business
- A private ChatGPT-style workspace for staff, with team-based permissions and an audit trail
- Ground answers in company documents and datasets while keeping models and data on your own servers
- Let an AI agent call approved internal systems and produce reports or spreadsheets
These use cases are our editorial suggestions, not claims made by the project.
Can a business use Bionic? (license)
| License | Apache-2.0 |
|---|---|
| Type | Permissive: MIT / Apache-2.0: use, modify and sell with few obligations. |
| Internal business use | Allowed under the license text |
| What to watch | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license and notices. Paid enterprise support is optional. |
This is a plain-English summary of the license text, not legal advice. Third-party models you run with it have their own licenses.
Data & compliance: does Bionic phone home?
| Telemetry (usage data sent to the vendor) | Not documented |
|---|---|
| Other calls home by default (updates, marketplaces, default cloud services) | Not documented |
| Single sign-on (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Free By protocol: OIDC free. SSO is configured with an OIDC client ID, secret and issuer URL stored in a Kubernetes secret; it is part of the Apache-2.0 release. |
| Audit log | Yes, free Audit trails are included; viewing them is a System Administrator permission (ViewAuditTrail). |
| Role-based access control (RBAC) | Yes, free Three roles (System Administrator, Team Manager, Team Collaborator) with editable permission mapping. |
| Data residency / GDPR notes from the project | Not documented |
Checked against the project's own docs and repository on . "Not documented" means we could not find the answer in official sources; it does not mean the feature is missing or that no data is sent. Third-party services you connect (model APIs, vector databases, search engines) have their own data policies. Compare all apps.
What hardware does Bionic need?
The project does not publish a minimum CPU/RAM figure, so we leave the official value blank rather than guess.
No official RAM, CPU or disk figures. Docker Compose is for proofs of concept only; production and private-cloud installs need a Kubernetes cluster (K3s, EKS or GKE).
Source: bionic-gpt.com/docs/private-cloud/installation-prerequisite/
How much does it cost to host Bionic per month?
The project publishes no RAM figure we could verify, so we do not estimate a cost.
How to deploy Bionic
Method: Docker Compose (evaluation)
curl -fLO https://github.com/bionic-gpt/bionic-gpt/releases/download/v1.12.28/docker-compose.yml
docker-compose up
# then open http://localhost:3000From the official instructions: bionic-gpt.com/docs/running-locally/docker-compose/. Always check the source for the current version before you run it.
Known gotchas when self-hosting Bionic
- The Docker Compose install is not recommended for production; the project says to use it only for proofs of concept. source
- Production installs are a two-step process: get Kubernetes running, then deploy with the Stack CLI, which also installs CloudNativePG, Keycloak and an ingress controller. source
- Only a System Administrator can manage models; anyone who can sign in can create and manage their own team. Tightening what Team Collaborators can do means editing the roles_permissions table in Postgres. source
Alternatives in Private ChatGPT-style chat
- Open WebUI Feature-rich self-hosted chat UI for Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs. Compare Bionic vs Open WebUI
- NextChat Lightweight ChatGPT-style web app you can run with one Docker command. Compare Bionic vs NextChat
- LobeHub (LobeChat) Polished multi-model chat and agent workspace with plugins and knowledge bases. Compare Bionic vs LobeHub (LobeChat)
- Cherry Studio Desktop AI client for cloud and local models with agents, knowledge bases and MCP tools. Compare Bionic vs Cherry Studio
- LibreChat Multi-provider ChatGPT-style interface with agents, file search and user management. Compare Bionic vs LibreChat
- Jan Offline desktop ChatGPT alternative that runs models on each employee's computer. Compare Bionic vs Jan
Bionic FAQ
How much RAM does Bionic need?
Bionic does not publish an official RAM figure, so we do not state one. Docker Compose is for proofs of concept only; production and private-cloud installs need a Kubernetes cluster (K3s, EKS or GKE).
How much does it cost to self-host Bionic?
The software is free to download. The project publishes no official RAM figure, so we do not estimate a monthly server cost.
Is Bionic free for commercial use?
Bionic is licensed under Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Internal business use is allowed under the license text. Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license and notices. Paid enterprise support is optional. This is a summary, not legal advice.
What are common problems when self-hosting Bionic?
The Docker Compose install is not recommended for production; the project says to use it only for proofs of concept. Production installs are a two-step process: get Kubernetes running, then deploy with the Stack CLI, which also installs CloudNativePG, Keycloak and an ingress controller. Only a System Administrator can manage models; anyone who can sign in can create and manage their own team. Tightening what Team Collaborators can do means editing the roles_permissions table in Postgres.
Is Bionic still maintained?
Yes, it is actively developed. Last commit: Oct 7, 2026. Latest release: v1.12.28 (Oct 1, 2026). Checked Oct 27, 2026.
How do I install Bionic?
The official method is Docker Compose (evaluation). The exact commands are in the "How to deploy" section above and in the official instructions: https://bionic-gpt.com/docs/running-locally/docker-compose/
What are self-hosted alternatives to Bionic?
Other apps in Private ChatGPT-style chat: Open WebUI, NextChat, LobeHub (LobeChat), Cherry Studio, LibreChat, Jan.
Sources
- GitHub repository: github.com/bionic-gpt/bionic-gpt
- Official documentation: bionic-gpt.com/docs/
- License text: github.com/bionic-gpt/bionic-gpt/blob/main/LICENCE
- Hardware requirements, Gotcha 2: bionic-gpt.com/docs/private-cloud/installation-prerequisite/
- Deploy instructions, Gotcha 1: bionic-gpt.com/docs/running-locally/docker-compose/
- Gotcha 3: bionic-gpt.com/docs/configuration/rbac/
- Hetzner Cloud pricing (cost estimate): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub stars, commits and releases: GitHub REST API, fetched
Facts on this page were checked against the project's own repository and docs on 2026-10-27. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.