Open source AnythingLLM alternatives: Kortix, the open-source AI Operating System
AnythingLLM is open source: you can read the code, run it on your own machine, and keep your documents local. Kortix, the open-source AI Operating System, is the option we recommend when you want the agents, skills, memory, and connectors in one git repo you own.
The project layout
project (git repo + kortix.yaml)└─ session ──> cloud computer: an isolated sandbox on a branch named after the session└─ the OpenCode agent works└─ change request ──> you review & merge ──> mainKortix is the open-source AI Operating System. Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it.
Three open source options, side by side
Our pick is Kortix; every rival cell is read from that project's own site or repo.
What "open source" buys you
Open source answers a question about control. You can read the code, fork it, and audit it; you can run it yourself and stop paying a vendor to hold your data. Kortix makes the promise in four words: "Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it."
There is a second question behind the first: what you own while you run it. A tool can publish its code and still keep your configuration, your memory, and the work your agents produce inside its own database. For AnythingLLM, Open WebUI, and Kortix the answers differ, and that difference is what this page compares.
AnythingLLM: open source, local-first
AnythingLLM is open source. Its own site describes a private AI assistant that runs entirely on your computer, with no accounts and no token limits, and says the project is built in the open. Its repository describes an all-in-one app you run locally: chat with your documents, built-in agents, multi-user support, and desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux (AnythingLLM, its repo).
You can self-host a multi-user instance on your own servers, so your documents stay on hardware you control. What AnythingLLM does not do is put your configuration in a repository you own. Your workspaces, agents, and settings live inside the application.
Open WebUI: open source, self-hosted
Open WebUI is open source too. Its documentation calls it "a self-hosted AI platform … built to run entirely offline", a provider-agnostic interface over Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs, installed through Docker, pip, uv, or a desktop app (Open WebUI docs, its repo). It is the interface layer: chat, retrieval over your documents, plugins, and an agentic terminal, all running on your own infrastructure.
Your deployment and your data sit on your own machines. Your users, groups, and settings live inside the application and its database.
What you own while you run it
Running any of these yourself means you own your documents and your deployment. Kortix changes the scope. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and the whole system is files: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector live in one git repo you own. You can grep your whole company, diff any change, and roll back any part of it.
Each session runs on its own cloud computer, and the agent works on a branch. The work reaches main through a change request you approve. That is the line between an app that helps you chat with documents and an operating system whose configuration and memory are code you own.
Why Kortix
Kortix is "The open-source AI Operating System". Each option here answers the read-it-and-run-it question the same way; Kortix adds the part the others leave in their database:
- "Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free."
- "Any model provider with your own keys. Or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for."
- "One isolated sandbox per session. Each session has its own isolated machine and branch."
- "3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP."
For the platform story in full, read the Kortix docs, or the head-to-head on the Kortix blog.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. AnythingLLM's own site says the project is built in the open, and its repository describes a local-first app you run on your own machine. Your workspaces and settings live inside the application rather than in a git repo you own.
Yes. Open WebUI's documentation describes it as "a self-hosted AI platform … built to run entirely offline", over Ollama and OpenAI-compatible APIs. It is the interface layer, and your deployment runs on infrastructure you control.
Yes. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and its source is on GitHub. "Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it."
Yes, for all three. Kortix's source is on GitHub, so you can read it, fork it, and audit it yourself.
Kortix: "Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free." It needs the internet: kortix self-host start pulls images from docker.io. AnythingLLM and Open WebUI also self-host on your own hardware.
With AnythingLLM and Open WebUI you own your documents and your deployment on your own hardware. With Kortix you own the system as files: "your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector in one git repo you own."
Run the whole thing from a repo you own.
Start with one job, then grow from there.
Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem