Guides

Short, data-backed answers to common questions about self-hosting AI apps in a small business: cost, GPUs, licenses and knowledge bases.

• Cheapest self-hosted ChatGPT alternatives
  5 open-source, self-hosted ChatGPT-style chat apps (LibreChat, LobeHub (LobeChat), Open WebUI, NextChat, Jan) ranked by estimated monthly server cost from their official hardware requirements.
• Self-hosted AI apps that run without a GPU
  25 open-source AI apps whose official docs show they run on a normal CPU server, with official RAM figures and estimated monthly cost.
• Self-hosted RAG and knowledge base apps for small businesses
  7 open-source knowledge-base / RAG apps (RAGFlow, AnythingLLM, PrivateGPT, Open Notebook, Onyx (formerly Danswer), FastGPT, MaxKB) compared by license, official hardware, estimated monthly cost and GitHub activity.
• Self-hosted AI apps by license: what a business may do
  License type and commercial-use conditions for 40 self-hostable open-source AI apps: MIT/Apache, open core, GPL/AGPL, custom and source-available.