# AnythingLLM vs Ollama: which open-source layer does your team need?

> Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and it sits at a different layer from two tools people often compare. Ollama runs a model on your machine. AnythingLLM is a workspace that chats with your documents and can use Ollama as its model backend.

URL: https://anythingllm-alternative.com/anythingllm-vs-ollama

## AnythingLLM, Ollama and Kortix, by layer

Ollama serves the model, AnythingLLM is the app over your documents, and Kortix runs a team’s agents.

| | Kortix (recommended) | AnythingLLM | Ollama |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes. Read it, fork it, audit it. | Yes | Yes, built in the open |
| What it is | The open-source AI Operating System | A workspace that chats with your documents | A runner for open models |
| Who serves the model | Any model provider with your own keys | A local or cloud backend you connect | Ollama, on your machine or its cloud |
| Where your documents live | In a git repo you own | In the instance you run | It holds no documents |
| Built for | A team's agents doing finished work | One person, or a self-hosted team | A developer running a model |
| Agents that act in your tools | 3,000+ apps in a click | Agents inside the workspace | No, it serves the model |
| Sharing across a team | Roles, groups, and an audit trail | Multi-user on the Docker version | One machine, no shared workspace |

## One repo holds the agents, skills and connectors

`kortix.yaml`

```yaml
# kortix.yaml
agents:
  support-triage:
    file: agents/support-triage.md   # what it does, in plain markdown
    connectors: all                  # what it may reach
```

Source: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna

A Kortix agent declared in `kortix.yaml`. The behavior lives in markdown, and its reach is a line in the same file.

## What Ollama is

Ollama runs open models on your own computer. It downloads a model, serves it through a REST API on `localhost`, and lets desktop apps and coding agents call it. Its documentation separates models you run locally from cloud models that run without a local GPU, so the same command works on a machine with or without a graphics card. The detail is on [ollama.com](https://ollama.com/) and in the [Ollama docs](https://docs.ollama.com/).

## What AnythingLLM is

AnythingLLM is an app for chatting with your documents. You connect a local or cloud model, ingest files, and ask questions against them with source citations. It runs as a desktop app for one person, or as a Docker instance that supports multiple people with permissions. The project page also lists a browser extension and a mobile app. Start at the [AnythingLLM project](https://github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm) and its [documentation](https://docs.anythingllm.com/).

## How the two fit together

Ollama serves the model and AnythingLLM is the app over your documents, so they are usually run together. Ollama's own repository lists AnythingLLM among the apps that connect to it. A person can run a model with Ollama, point AnythingLLM at it, and keep a private workspace for a set of files without sending them to a model vendor.

## The choice behind the question

The choice is between two jobs. One is a single-machine document-chat setup, kept private and built for one person. The other is a company system where agents act in the tools a team already uses, memory accumulates, and a person reviews each change. A person choosing the first wants a private tool. A team choosing the second is looking for an operating system.

## Where Kortix fits

Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector in one git repo you own, with the agents working on real cloud computers. Kortix is the leading open-source alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work. One isolated sandbox per session. Each session has its own isolated machine and branch. Session work reaches `main` through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents. Any model provider with your own keys. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free. The code is at [Kortix on GitHub](https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna).

For the direct pairing, see [the Kortix vs AnythingLLM comparison on this site](/kortix-vs-anythingllm) and [is AnythingLLM free](/is-anythingllm-free).

## Questions about local models and document chat

### Does Ollama send my prompts to a server?

Ollama states that your prompts are never stored or trained on, whether a model runs locally or as a cloud model. Check the line on [ollama.com](https://ollama.com/) before you rely on it.

### Can AnythingLLM use a cloud model instead of a local one?

Yes. AnythingLLM connects to many model backends, including Ollama, and its project page lists cloud providers next to local ones, so a local model is a choice rather than a requirement.

### Can several people share one AnythingLLM workspace?

Yes, on the Docker version, which supports multiple people with permissioning. The desktop app is built for one person.

### Can I use my own model keys with Kortix?

Yes. Any model provider with your own keys. Or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for. Or sign in with your OpenCode Console account for OpenCode Zen and Go.

## Run a team of agents from one repo you own.

Start self-hosted, or use the managed cloud.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Compare Kortix vs AnythingLLM](https://anythingllm-alternative.com/kortix-vs-anythingllm)

Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem