MaxKB

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to MaxKB

A curated collection of the 1 best self hosted alternatives to MaxKB.

MaxKB is a SaaS platform for building and operating AI knowledge bases and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) chatbots. It ingests and indexes documents, manages embeddings/vectors, and delivers Q&A assistants for support and internal search.

Alternatives List

#1
AnythingLLM

AnythingLLM

AnythingLLM is an all-in-one desktop and Docker app for chatting with documents using RAG, running AI agents, and connecting to local or hosted LLMs and vector databases.

AnythingLLM screenshot

AnythingLLM is a full-stack AI application for building a private ChatGPT-like experience around your own documents and content. It supports local and hosted LLMs, integrates with multiple vector database backends, and organizes content into isolated workspaces for cleaner context management.

Key Features

  • Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to chat with PDFs, DOCX, TXT, CSV, codebases, and more
  • Workspace-based organization with separated context and optional document sharing
  • AI agents, including a no-code agent builder and MCP compatibility
  • Supports local and commercial LLM providers (including Ollama and llama.cpp-compatible models)
  • Multiple vector database options (default local-first setup, with external backends available)
  • Multi-user deployment with permissions (Docker deployment)
  • Embeddable website chat widget (Docker deployment)
  • Developer API for integrations and automation

Use Cases

  • Internal knowledge base chat for teams (policies, runbooks, product docs)
  • Private document Q&A for sensitive datasets and client files
  • Building agent-assisted workflows that reference curated business content

AnythingLLM is a strong choice when you want a configurable, privacy-conscious AI application that can run locally or on a server, while staying flexible about which LLM and vector database you use.

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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running