Khoj vs Onyx (formerly Danswer)
Short answer
Khoj: Personal and team AI "second brain" for your documents and the web. Onyx (formerly Danswer): AI chat and enterprise search connected to 50+ workplace apps. They sit in different categories (AI search & research assistants and Knowledge base & RAG) but overlap: All of them index your own documents or workplace apps and answer questions about them in a chat interface.
Choose Onyx (formerly Danswer) if you want: fewer license conditions (Open core vs Network copyleft (AGPL)).
Khoj 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
Khoj vs Onyx (formerly Danswer) side by side
| Khoj | Onyx (formerly Danswer) | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI search & research assistants | Knowledge base & RAG |
| What it is | Personal and team AI "second brain" for your documents and the web. | AI chat and enterprise search connected to 50+ workplace apps. |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT (Community Edition) + Onyx Enterprise License (ee directories) |
| License type | Network copyleft (AGPL) | Open core |
| License conditions | Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify Khoj and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source code under AGPL-3.0. | The Community Edition is MIT. Code in "ee" directories is under the Onyx Enterprise License. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 37.8k | 32.8k |
| Last commit | Aug 2, 2026 | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Latest release | 2.0.0-beta.28 | v4.9.2 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | 4 vCPU · 10 GB RAM · 32 GB disk |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | 8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 500 GB disk |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Only for offline chat with local models. 16 GB VRAM recommended; an NVIDIA/AMD GPU or an Apple M1+ machine speeds up responses significantly. | Not required / not stated |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | from €69.99/mo |
| Deploy method | Docker Compose | Install script (Docker Compose) |
| Known gotchas | 2 listed | 2 listed |
| Telemetry | On by default | On by default |
| 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 | Paid / enterprise only |
| Details | Full Khoj guide → | Full Onyx (formerly Danswer) guide → |
Key differences
- Category: Khoj: AI search & research assistants. Onyx (formerly Danswer): Knowledge base & RAG.
- License: Khoj: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)). Onyx (formerly Danswer): MIT (Community Edition) + Onyx Enterprise License (ee directories) (Open core).
- Official hardware: Khoj: not published. Onyx (formerly Danswer): minimum 4 vCPU · 10 GB RAM · 32 GB disk (recommended 8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 500 GB disk).
- GPU: Khoj: optional / see notes. Onyx (formerly Danswer): not required or not stated.
- Est. server cost: Khoj: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Onyx (formerly Danswer): from €69.99/mo.
- Deploy: Khoj: Docker Compose · multi-container stack. Onyx (formerly Danswer): Install script (Docker Compose) · multi-container stack.
- GitHub stars: Khoj: 37.8k. Onyx (formerly Danswer): 32.8k.
- Last commit: Khoj: Aug 2, 2026. Onyx (formerly Danswer): Oct 22, 2026.
- Latest release: Khoj: 2.0.0-beta.28 (Mar 26, 2026). Onyx (formerly Danswer): v4.9.2 (Oct 15, 2026).
Same for both: Status: Active.
Khoj vs Onyx (formerly Danswer): FAQ
Khoj or Onyx (formerly Danswer): which should a small business choose?
Choose Onyx (formerly Danswer) if you want: fewer license conditions (Open core vs Network copyleft (AGPL)). Khoj publishes no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, Khoj or Onyx (formerly Danswer)?
Khoj: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Onyx (formerly Danswer): 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 Khoj and Onyx (formerly Danswer) need?
Khoj: not published. Onyx (formerly Danswer): minimum 4 vCPU · 10 GB RAM · 32 GB disk (recommended 8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 500 GB disk).
What is the license difference between Khoj and Onyx (formerly Danswer)?
Khoj: AGPL-3.0 (Network copyleft (AGPL)). Free for internal and commercial use. If you modify Khoj and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source code under AGPL-3.0. Onyx (formerly Danswer): MIT (Community Edition) + Onyx Enterprise License (ee directories) (Open core). The Community Edition is MIT. Code in "ee" directories is under the Onyx Enterprise License. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is Khoj or Onyx (formerly Danswer) more actively maintained?
Khoj: Active, last commit Aug 2, 2026. Onyx (formerly Danswer): Active, last commit Oct 22, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 22, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, Khoj or Onyx (formerly Danswer)?
Khoj installs via Docker Compose (multi-container stack); Onyx (formerly Danswer) via Install script (Docker Compose) (multi-container stack). Khoj lists 2 known gotchas and Onyx (formerly Danswer) lists 2; see each app page.
Related
- Khoj self-hosting guide · Onyx (formerly Danswer) self-hosting guide
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- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- Khoj GitHub repository: github.com/khoj-ai/khoj
- Khoj documentation, Khoj hardware requirements, Khoj deploy instructions: docs.khoj.dev/get-started/setup/
- Khoj license: github.com/khoj-ai/khoj/blob/master/LICENSE
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) GitHub repository: github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) documentation, Onyx (formerly Danswer) hardware requirements: docs.onyx.app/deployment/getting_started/resourcing
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) license: github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx/blob/main/LICENSE
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) deploy instructions: github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx#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.