Karakeep vs LightRAG
Short answer
Karakeep: Self-hosted bookmark and read-later app (formerly Hoarder) with AI tagging, summaries and full-text search. LightRAG: Graph-based RAG server that builds a knowledge graph from your documents, with a web UI and REST API. Both are in our Knowledge base & RAG category.
Choose LightRAG if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)).
Karakeep and LightRAG 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
Karakeep vs LightRAG side by side
| Karakeep | LightRAG | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge base & RAG | Knowledge base & RAG |
| What it is | Self-hosted bookmark and read-later app (formerly Hoarder) with AI tagging, summaries and full-text search. | Graph-based RAG server that builds a knowledge graph from your documents, with a web UI and REST API. |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| License type | Network copyleft (AGPL) | Permissive |
| License conditions | 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. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Models keep their own licenses. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 30.2k | 40.5k |
| Last commit | Oct 31, 2026 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| Latest release | v0.34.1 | v1.5.7 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | No. AI tagging calls OpenAI or an Ollama server you configure. | No. It calls the model providers you configure. |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker Compose | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 4 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Yes, by default | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Free (OIDC free) | Not documented |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | Not documented |
| Details | Full Karakeep guide → | Full LightRAG guide → |
Key differences
- License: Karakeep: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)). LightRAG: MIT (Permissive).
- GitHub stars: Karakeep: 30.2k. LightRAG: 40.5k.
- Last commit: Karakeep: Oct 31, 2026. LightRAG: Oct 14, 2026.
- Latest release: Karakeep: v0.34.1 (Oct 22, 2026). LightRAG: v1.5.7 (Sep 2, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Knowledge base & RAG; Official hardware: not published; GPU: optional / see notes; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Deploy: Docker Compose · multi-container stack; Status: Active.
Karakeep vs LightRAG: FAQ
Karakeep or LightRAG: which should a small business choose?
Choose LightRAG if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)). Karakeep and LightRAG publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, Karakeep or LightRAG?
Karakeep: not estimated (no official RAM figure). LightRAG: 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 Karakeep and LightRAG need?
Karakeep: not published. LightRAG: not published.
What is the license difference between Karakeep and LightRAG?
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. LightRAG: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Models keep their own licenses. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is Karakeep or LightRAG more actively maintained?
Karakeep: Active, last commit Oct 31, 2026. LightRAG: Active, last commit Oct 14, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Nov 1, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, Karakeep or LightRAG?
Karakeep installs via Docker Compose (multi-container stack); LightRAG via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). Karakeep lists 4 known gotchas and LightRAG lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- Karakeep self-hosting guide · LightRAG self-hosting guide
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- All LightRAG alternatives, ranked
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- Karakeep vs MaxKB
- Karakeep vs Onyx (formerly Danswer)
- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- 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
- LightRAG GitHub repository: github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG
- LightRAG documentation: github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/blob/main/docs/LightRAG-API-Server.md
- LightRAG license: github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/blob/main/LICENSE
- LightRAG hardware requirements: github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG#selecting-backend-storage
- LightRAG deploy instructions: github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG#install-lightrag-server
- 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.