Is AnythingLLM free? Yes, and here is the open source alternative
AnythingLLM is free and open source for document chat, and Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System for a team's agent workforce. The desktop app and the Docker deployment cost nothing; Kortix self-host is free, and Kortix Cloud is $40 per seat per month plus usage.
Is AnythingLLM free? Kortix and AnythingLLM, side by side
Both cost nothing to start; they differ on what a team keeps and governs.
The project layout
project (git repo + kortix.yaml)└─ session ──> isolated sandbox on branch "<uuid>"└─ agent commits + pushes└─ change request ──> merge ──> default branchA Kortix project is a git repo plus kortix.yaml. One isolated sandbox per session. Each session has its own isolated machine and branch.
What free means for AnythingLLM
AnythingLLM is free to download and run. The desktop app installs on macOS, Windows, and Linux as one file with no dependencies, and the Docker deployment that adds multi-user support costs the same: nothing. A local setup needs no account and no cloud API key, and anythingllm.com describes the app as a private assistant that runs entirely on your computer (anythingllm.com).
The cost that stays with you is the model. Run a local model on hardware you own and there is no per-token bill. Point AnythingLLM at a cloud provider and that provider bills you. The project connects to local and cloud providers side by side, and its repository lists the ones it supports (AnythingLLM on GitHub).
AnythingLLM is open source, so you can read, fork, and audit the code. Multi-user support and permissioning ship in the Docker deployment, and the desktop app stays single-user.
Free to one person, or free to a team
The desktop app gives one person a private workspace. Attach PDFs, text files, and Word documents, chat over them, and get answers with source citations. AnythingLLM ships a built-in model provider, so the first run needs no cloud key.
The Docker deployment is where the free tier becomes a shared instance. It adds multi-user support, workspace access management, and an embeddable chat widget, and it is the shape Mintplex Labs recommends when several people use one instance at once (AnythingLLM on GitHub). Both shapes carry the agent features: a no-code agent builder, MCP compatibility, scheduled tasks, and memory per workspace. What one workspace learns stays inside that workspace.
The free, open source AnythingLLM alternative for a team
Kortix is the answer when the job is larger than document chat. Kortix is open source, and self-host is free: run it on your own machine, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and you pay only your own model and compute bills (Kortix docs).
Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector live in one git repo you own. Each session runs on its own cloud computer, an isolated sandbox on a branch named after the session, and session work reaches main through a change request a person approves.
The free tier and the team plan are both published on the Kortix pricing page. Free is $0 with 200 credits per month and 1 project. The team plan is $40 per seat per month with 2,500 credits per month per seat, pooled.
Which job each tool fits
AnythingLLM fits document chat: one person on a desktop, or a small group on a single Docker host, reading their own files in a private workspace. That is what it is built for.
Kortix fits a team's agent workforce. The unit is a git repo that holds the agents, their skills, the company memory, and the connector rules as files, so a change to how the team works arrives as a diff a person reviews. Pick Kortix when the work has to land as reviewed changes across a company, and pick AnythingLLM when one workspace of answers is enough. The open-source AnythingLLM alternatives page carries the wider shortlist, and the Kortix vs AnythingLLM page covers the pair directly.
Rival details are from each project's own website and repository, checked October 2026.
Free AnythingLLM questions, answered
The specifics the comparison table does not cover.
Not for a local setup. The desktop app runs on your machine with a built-in model provider, so a first run does not depend on a cloud model (anythingllm.com). Connecting a cloud provider is optional.
Yes. It connects to local and cloud providers, and its repository lists Ollama, LM Studio, and OpenAI-compatible APIs among them (AnythingLLM on GitHub).
Self-host is free. You pay your own model and compute bills, and the code is open source (Kortix docs).
Free is $0 with 200 credits per month and 1 project. The team plan is $40 per seat per month with 2,500 credits per month per seat, pooled (Kortix pricing).
Run a team's agents on a free, open-source system
Self-host Kortix for free, or start on Kortix Cloud for $40 per seat per month plus usage.
Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem