DocsGPT vs Karakeep
Short answer
DocsGPT: Open-source platform for AI agents and assistants that answer from your documents with sources. Karakeep: Self-hosted bookmark and read-later app (formerly Hoarder) with AI tagging, summaries and full-text search. Both are in our Knowledge base & RAG category.
Choose DocsGPT if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)).
Choose Karakeep if you want: larger community (30.2k vs 18.4k GitHub stars).
DocsGPT and Karakeep publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
DocsGPT vs Karakeep side by side
| DocsGPT | Karakeep | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge base & RAG | Knowledge base & RAG |
| What it is | Open-source platform for AI agents and assistants that answer from your documents with sources. | Self-hosted bookmark and read-later app (formerly Hoarder) with AI tagging, summaries and full-text search. |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| License type | Permissive | Network copyleft (AGPL) |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. | Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify Karakeep and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source under AGPL-3.0. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 18.4k | 30.2k |
| Last commit | Oct 31, 2026 | Oct 31, 2026 |
| Latest release | 1.1.0 | v0.34.1 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Not required / not stated | No. AI tagging calls OpenAI or an Ollama server you configure. |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker Compose | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 4 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | On by default | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Yes, by default | Yes, by default |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Free (OIDC free) | Free (OIDC free) |
| Audit log | Yes, free | Not documented |
| RBAC | Yes, free | Not documented |
| Details | Full DocsGPT guide → | Full Karakeep guide → |
Key differences
- License: DocsGPT: MIT (Permissive). Karakeep: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)).
- GPU: DocsGPT: not required or not stated. Karakeep: optional / see notes.
- GitHub stars: DocsGPT: 18.4k. Karakeep: 30.2k.
- Latest release: DocsGPT: 1.1.0 (Oct 25, 2026). Karakeep: v0.34.1 (Oct 22, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Knowledge base & RAG; Official hardware: not published; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Deploy: Docker Compose · multi-container stack; Status: Active; Last commit: Oct 31, 2026.
DocsGPT vs Karakeep: FAQ
DocsGPT or Karakeep: which should a small business choose?
Choose DocsGPT if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)). Choose Karakeep if you want: larger community (30.2k vs 18.4k GitHub stars). DocsGPT and Karakeep publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, DocsGPT or Karakeep?
DocsGPT: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Karakeep: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Our estimate is the cheapest Hetzner Cloud plan that meets each project's official RAM and vCPU figure; it covers the server only.
How much hardware do DocsGPT and Karakeep need?
DocsGPT: not published. Karakeep: not published.
What is the license difference between DocsGPT and Karakeep?
DocsGPT: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. Karakeep: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)). Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify Karakeep and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source under AGPL-3.0. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is DocsGPT or Karakeep more actively maintained?
DocsGPT: Active, last commit Oct 31, 2026. Karakeep: Active, last commit Oct 31, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Nov 1, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, DocsGPT or Karakeep?
DocsGPT installs via Docker Compose (multi-container stack); Karakeep via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). DocsGPT lists 4 known gotchas and Karakeep lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- DocsGPT self-hosting guide · Karakeep self-hosting guide
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- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
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
- Karakeep GitHub repository: github.com/karakeep-app/karakeep
- Karakeep documentation, Karakeep hardware requirements, Karakeep deploy instructions: docs.karakeep.com/installation/docker/
- Karakeep license: github.com/karakeep-app/karakeep/blob/main/LICENSE
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-25): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub REST API (stars, commits, releases): docs.github.com/en/rest
Every value is generated from the same verified data as the app pages. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.