kotaemon vs PrivateGPT
Short answer
kotaemon: Open-source RAG web app for chatting with your documents, with citations and GraphRAG. PrivateGPT: API-first private document Q&A that sits on top of your own LLM server. Both are in our Knowledge base & RAG category.
Choose PrivateGPT if you want: larger community (57.6k vs 25.8k GitHub stars).
kotaemon and PrivateGPT 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 PrivateGPT side by side
| kotaemon | PrivateGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge base & RAG | Knowledge base & RAG |
| What it is | Open-source RAG web app for chatting with your documents, with citations and GraphRAG. | API-first private document Q&A that sits on top of your own LLM server. |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| License type | Permissive | Permissive |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 25.8k | 57.6k |
| Last commit | May 30, 2026 | Oct 20, 2026 |
| Latest release | v0.12.0 | v1.0.1 |
| 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 | Not required / not stated |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker | uv (Python) or Docker |
| Known gotchas | 4 listed | 2 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Paid / enterprise only (LDAP paid) |
| Audit log | Not documented | Paid / enterprise only |
| RBAC | Not documented | Paid / enterprise only |
| Details | Full kotaemon guide → | Full PrivateGPT guide → |
Key differences
- Deploy: kotaemon: Docker · single container. PrivateGPT: uv (Python) or Docker · uv (Python) or Docker.
- GitHub stars: kotaemon: 25.8k. PrivateGPT: 57.6k.
- Last commit: kotaemon: May 30, 2026. PrivateGPT: Oct 20, 2026.
- Latest release: kotaemon: v0.12.0 (May 31, 2026). PrivateGPT: v1.0.1 (Jun 18, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Knowledge base & RAG; License: Apache-2.0 (Permissive); Official hardware: not published; GPU: not required or not stated; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Status: Active.
kotaemon vs PrivateGPT: FAQ
kotaemon or PrivateGPT: which should a small business choose?
Choose PrivateGPT if you want: larger community (57.6k vs 25.8k GitHub stars). kotaemon and PrivateGPT publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, kotaemon or PrivateGPT?
kotaemon: not estimated (no official RAM figure). PrivateGPT: 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 PrivateGPT need?
kotaemon: not published. PrivateGPT: not published.
What is the license difference between kotaemon and PrivateGPT?
kotaemon: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. PrivateGPT: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is kotaemon or PrivateGPT more actively maintained?
kotaemon: Active, last commit May 30, 2026. PrivateGPT: Active, last commit Oct 20, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 23, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, kotaemon or PrivateGPT?
kotaemon installs via Docker (single container); PrivateGPT via uv (Python) or Docker (uv (Python) or Docker). kotaemon lists 4 known gotchas and PrivateGPT lists 2; see each app page.
Related
- kotaemon self-hosting guide · PrivateGPT self-hosting guide
- All kotaemon alternatives, ranked
- All PrivateGPT alternatives, ranked
- AnythingLLM vs kotaemon
- AnythingLLM vs PrivateGPT
- FastGPT vs kotaemon
- FastGPT vs PrivateGPT
- kotaemon vs MaxKB
- kotaemon vs Onyx (formerly Danswer)
- kotaemon vs Open Notebook
- kotaemon vs RAGFlow
- MaxKB vs PrivateGPT
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) vs PrivateGPT
- Open Notebook vs PrivateGPT
- PrivateGPT vs RAGFlow
- 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
- PrivateGPT GitHub repository: github.com/zylon-ai/private-gpt
- PrivateGPT documentation, PrivateGPT hardware requirements: docs.privategpt.dev/getting-started/quickstart
- PrivateGPT license: github.com/zylon-ai/private-gpt/blob/main/LICENSE
- PrivateGPT deploy instructions: github.com/zylon-ai/private-gpt#readme
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-22): 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.