Karakeep vs RAGFlow
Short answer
Karakeep: Self-hosted bookmark and read-later app (formerly Hoarder) with AI tagging, summaries and full-text search. RAGFlow: RAG engine with deep document parsing (OCR, layout and tables) and cited answers. Both are in our Knowledge base & RAG category.
Choose RAGFlow if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)) and larger community (93.3k vs 30.2k GitHub stars).
Karakeep publishes 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 RAGFlow side by side
| Karakeep | RAGFlow | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | RAG engine with deep document parsing (OCR, layout and tables) and cited answers. |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| 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; keep license and notices. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 30.2k | 93.3k |
| Last commit | Oct 31, 2026 | Oct 31, 2026 |
| Latest release | v0.34.1 | v1.0.0-rc3 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | 4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 50 GB disk |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | No. AI tagging calls OpenAI or an Ollama server you configure. | Not required / not stated |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | from €69.99/mo |
| Deploy method | Docker Compose | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 4 listed | 2 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Yes, by default | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Free (OIDC free) | Free (OIDC free) |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | Basic free, more in paid plan |
| Details | Full Karakeep guide → | Full RAGFlow guide → |
Key differences
- License: Karakeep: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)). RAGFlow: Apache-2.0 (Permissive).
- Official hardware: Karakeep: not published. RAGFlow: recommended 4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 50 GB disk (no separate minimum published).
- GPU: Karakeep: optional / see notes. RAGFlow: not required or not stated.
- Est. server cost: Karakeep: not estimated (no official RAM figure). RAGFlow: from €69.99/mo.
- GitHub stars: Karakeep: 30.2k. RAGFlow: 93.3k.
- Latest release: Karakeep: v0.34.1 (Oct 22, 2026). RAGFlow: v1.0.0-rc3 (Oct 30, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Knowledge base & RAG; Deploy: Docker Compose · multi-container stack; Status: Active; Last commit: Oct 31, 2026.
Karakeep vs RAGFlow: FAQ
Karakeep or RAGFlow: which should a small business choose?
Choose RAGFlow if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Network copyleft (AGPL)) and larger community (93.3k vs 30.2k GitHub stars). Karakeep publishes no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, Karakeep or RAGFlow?
Karakeep: not estimated (no official RAM figure). RAGFlow: from €69.99/mo. 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 RAGFlow need?
Karakeep: not published. RAGFlow: recommended 4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 50 GB disk (no separate minimum published).
What is the license difference between Karakeep and RAGFlow?
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. RAGFlow: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is Karakeep or RAGFlow more actively maintained?
Karakeep: Active, last commit Oct 31, 2026. RAGFlow: Active, last commit Oct 31, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Nov 1, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, Karakeep or RAGFlow?
Karakeep installs via Docker Compose (multi-container stack); RAGFlow via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). Karakeep lists 4 known gotchas and RAGFlow lists 2; see each app page.
Related
- Karakeep self-hosting guide · RAGFlow self-hosting guide
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- All RAGFlow alternatives, ranked
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- Karakeep vs Langchain-Chatchat
- 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
- 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
- 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.