AnythingLLM for teams vs Kortix, the open-source AI Operating System
AnythingLLM gives a small team document chat, multi-user accounts and workspace permissions, in its Docker version. A company that must decide who may run which agent, what an agent may touch and how work lands needs more: Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, where agents work on real cloud computers.
Who may run which agent
kortix members invite alice@example.com --role member --project <project_id>:memberkortix access grant --user alice@example.com --agent kortixkortix access grant --everyone --agent kortixAgent access is a grant; without one, a member cannot start a session.
What AnythingLLM gives a team
AnythingLLM is an AI application built by Mintplex Labs that connects a local or cloud model to your documents. It runs retrieval and AI agents, and it reads PDF, TXT and DOCX files into a workspace. One person can run it as a desktop app; a team runs the Docker version.
Multi-user mode is Docker only. AnythingLLM's security and access docs state that the multi-user settings are available in the Docker version, and that an instance cannot go back to single-user mode once it is in multi-user mode. Single-user mode is for one person, or for a small group that shares one password and can see every chat.
In multi-user mode AnythingLLM applies per-user, role-based access with three roles: Admin, Manager and Default. Admin has full access to the system, Manager can view all workspaces and manage most properties, and Default can send chats only to workspaces the person is added to. Access is granted at the workspace level, and AnythingLLM's docs state that embedding a document makes it available to every person who has access to that workspace.
That answers one team question well: which workspaces may this person open. It leaves three others open. It does not decide who may run which agent, what an agent may touch, or how the work lands in the tools the company already runs.
Where a company outgrows it
A company that wants one system for whole teams needs agent-level control, tool-level control and a review step. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and it answers those three questions as files in a git repo.
Who may run which agent is a grant. Kortix gives per-resource permissions for people and agents, with roles, groups, and an audit trail, and a member cannot start a session until they hold a grant on an agent. An owner or admin reaches every project in the account; a member works only in the projects a grant gives them. See the Kortix accounts docs.
What an agent may touch is a policy on each connector, set to Allow, Ask or Block. The values in kortix.yaml are always_run, require_approval and block, and Kortix applies them down to the arguments of each call. Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine, so an agent calls a tool without holding its key. See the Kortix docs on connectors.
How work lands is a change request. A session works on its own branch and opens a change request against the default branch, and a person reviews the diff. Merge is default-deny for agents, and approval gates are off until you set them, so a team decides where an agent stops for a person.
For a larger company Kortix adds SAML 2.0 single sign-on and SCIM 2.0, and it runs on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, with a free self-host.
AnythingLLM and Kortix, by what a team adds
Accounts and roles. AnythingLLM sets one of three instance roles plus workspace access. Kortix sets account roles, project roles, groups and custom roles, and treats agents as principals beside people.
Agent access. AnythingLLM controls which workspaces a person may open. Kortix controls agent access with a grant, and a session starts only for a person the grant admits.
Data reach. AnythingLLM shares an embedded document with everyone who can open the workspace. Kortix sets each connector call to Allow, Ask or Block down to the arguments, and keeps the credential out of the machine.
How work lands. AnythingLLM returns answers inside a workspace. Kortix agents work on a cloud computer, commit to a branch and open a change request a person merges.
Where it runs. AnythingLLM's multi-user mode runs in Docker on your own server. Kortix runs on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free.
If you run AnythingLLM on your own server, see self-hosting AnythingLLM without Docker. When the team moves across, migrating from AnythingLLM covers the file and workspace mapping.
AnythingLLM for teams, answered
Multi-user mode is AnythingLLM's Docker-only setting that gives each person their own login and a role: Admin, Manager or Default. It adds workspace access, user management and an embeddable chat widget for your website. AnythingLLM's docs state you cannot return to single-user mode after you turn it on.
AnythingLLM agents run inside a workspace and can browse the web and use tools. The result is an answer in that workspace. It has no agent-level grant, per-call tool policy or change-request review, so it does not govern who may run an agent across teams.
Agent access is a grant on a person or a group. A member cannot start a session without a grant on an agent, and owners and admins reach every project in the account. Connector calls are set to Allow, Ask or Block, down to the arguments of each call.
Yes. Kortix runs on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free. Bring your own model keys, or sign in with the ChatGPT plan you already pay for.
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