kotaemon vs LightRAG
Short answer
kotaemon: Open-source RAG web app for chatting with your documents, with citations and GraphRAG. 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 kotaemon if you want: simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
Choose LightRAG if you want: larger community (40.4k vs 25.8k GitHub stars).
kotaemon 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
kotaemon vs LightRAG side by side
| kotaemon | LightRAG | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge base & RAG | Knowledge base & RAG |
| What it is | Open-source RAG web app for chatting with your documents, with citations and GraphRAG. | Graph-based RAG server that builds a knowledge graph from your documents, with a web UI and REST API. |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| License type | Permissive | Permissive |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Models keep their own licenses. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 25.8k | 40.4k |
| Last commit | May 30, 2026 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| Latest release | v0.12.0 | 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 | Not required / not stated | No. It calls the model providers you configure. |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 4 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Not documented |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | Not documented |
| Details | Full kotaemon guide → | Full LightRAG guide → |
Key differences
- License: kotaemon: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). LightRAG: MIT (Permissive).
- GPU: kotaemon: not required or not stated. LightRAG: optional / see notes.
- Deploy: kotaemon: Docker · single container. LightRAG: Docker Compose · multi-container stack.
- GitHub stars: kotaemon: 25.8k. LightRAG: 40.4k.
- Last commit: kotaemon: May 30, 2026. LightRAG: Oct 14, 2026.
- Latest release: kotaemon: v0.12.0 (May 31, 2026). LightRAG: v1.5.7 (Sep 2, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Knowledge base & RAG; Official hardware: not published; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Status: Active.
kotaemon vs LightRAG: FAQ
kotaemon or LightRAG: which should a small business choose?
Choose kotaemon if you want: simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack). Choose LightRAG if you want: larger community (40.4k vs 25.8k GitHub stars). kotaemon and LightRAG publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, kotaemon or LightRAG?
kotaemon: 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 kotaemon and LightRAG need?
kotaemon: not published. LightRAG: not published.
What is the license difference between kotaemon and LightRAG?
kotaemon: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. LightRAG: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Models keep their own licenses. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is kotaemon or LightRAG more actively maintained?
kotaemon: Active, last commit May 30, 2026. LightRAG: Active, last commit Oct 14, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 31, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, kotaemon or LightRAG?
kotaemon installs via Docker (single container); LightRAG via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). kotaemon lists 4 known gotchas and LightRAG lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- kotaemon self-hosting guide · LightRAG self-hosting guide
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- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- kotaemon GitHub repository: github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon
- kotaemon documentation: cinnamon.github.io/kotaemon/
- kotaemon license: github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon/blob/main/LICENSE.txt
- kotaemon hardware requirements, kotaemon deploy instructions: github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon#readme
- 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.