--- title: "kotaemon vs qabot" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/cinnamon-kotaemon-vs-hardbyte-qabot" tools: ["cinnamon-kotaemon", "hardbyte-qabot"] --- # kotaemon vs qabot *GraphCanon updated Aug 18, 2026* ## Verdict Pick kotaemon if cinnamon's kotaemon is an open-source Retrieval-Augmented Generation-based chat tool that facilitates document interaction through a user-friendly chat interface; pick qabot if qabot enables CLI-based natural language queries on local or remote data. It is licensed under Apache-2.0. [kotaemon](https://cinnamon.github.io/kotaemon/) reports 26k GitHub stars, 2.1k forks, and 241 open issues, last pushed Jul 14, 2026. [qabot](https://github.com/hardbyte/qabot) has 245 stars, 20 forks, and 2 open issues, last pushed Mar 5, 2025. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [kotaemon's repository](https://github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon) and [qabot's repository](https://github.com/hardbyte/qabot). | | [kotaemon](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon.md) | [qabot](/tools/hardbyte-qabot.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | An open-source RAG-based tool for chatting with your documents. | CLI-based natural language queries on local or remote data | | Stars | 25,701 | 245 | | Forks | 2,141 | 20 | | Open issues | 241 | 2 | | Language | Python | Python | | Adopt for | Cinnamon's kotaemon is an open-source Retrieval-Augmented Generation-based chat tool that facilitates document interaction through a user-friendly chat interface. | qabot enables CLI-based natural language queries on local or remote data. It is licensed under Apache-2.0. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools | Data & Retrieval | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [kotaemon](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon.md) | [qabot](/tools/hardbyte-qabot.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Steady (60%) | Dormant (18%) | | Days since push | 34d | 527d | | Open issues (now) | 241 | 2 | | Stars delta | +138 (30d) | 0 (30d) | | Open issues delta | +4 (30d) | 0 (30d) | | Owner type | Organization | User | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/hardbyte-qabot/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: kotaemon - **Adopt for:** Cinnamon's kotaemon is an open-source Retrieval-Augmented Generation-based chat tool that facilitates document interaction through a user-friendly chat interface. ## Decision facts: qabot - **Adopt for:** qabot enables CLI-based natural language queries on local or remote data. It is licensed under Apache-2.0. ## Choose when ### Choose kotaemon if… - Tags unique to kotaemon: chatbot, llms, open-source, rag. - Also covers Developer Tools. - When you need to customize the file types you can process beyond PDFs, HTML, MHTML, and XLSX by opting for the `full` Docker version which includes additional packages from 'unstructured'. ### Choose qabot if… - Tags unique to qabot: natural-language-processing, query interface. - Prefer qabot for users who prefer command-line interaction over graphical interfaces. - Leaner open-issue backlog (2). ## When NOT to use kotaemon - If you only need to process a limited set of file types (PDF, HTML, MHTML, XLSX) and prefer the smaller Docker image size, as the `lite` version lacks additional package dependencies. - In environments with strict constraints on external dependencies where installing Docker or Python packages is not feasible. ## When NOT to use qabot - Avoid if your workflow requires frequent visual analysis and interactivity. - Skip qabot for scenarios with limited data transfer budgets as it might incur charges with remote data access. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between kotaemon and qabot? kotaemon: An open-source RAG-based tool for chatting with your documents.. qabot: CLI-based natural language queries on local or remote data. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose kotaemon over qabot? Choose kotaemon over qabot when Tags unique to kotaemon: chatbot, llms, open-source, rag; Also covers Developer Tools; When you need to customize the file types you can process beyond PDFs, HTML, MHTML, and XLSX by opting for the `full` Docker version which includes additional packages from 'unstructured'. ### When should I choose qabot over kotaemon? Choose qabot over kotaemon when Tags unique to qabot: natural-language-processing, query interface; Prefer qabot for users who prefer command-line interaction over graphical interfaces; Leaner open-issue backlog (2). ### When should I avoid kotaemon? If you only need to process a limited set of file types (PDF, HTML, MHTML, XLSX) and prefer the smaller Docker image size, as the `lite` version lacks additional package dependencies. In environments with strict constraints on external dependencies where installing Docker or Python packages is not feasible. ### When should I avoid qabot? Avoid if your workflow requires frequent visual analysis and interactivity. Skip qabot for scenarios with limited data transfer budgets as it might incur charges with remote data access. ### Is kotaemon or qabot more popular on GitHub? kotaemon has more GitHub stars (25,701 vs 245). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are kotaemon and qabot open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (kotaemon: Apache-2.0, qabot: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to kotaemon or qabot? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [kotaemon alternatives](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/alternatives) and [qabot alternatives](/tools/hardbyte-qabot/alternatives) ([kotaemon markdown twin](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/alternatives.md), [qabot markdown twin](/tools/hardbyte-qabot/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/cinnamon-kotaemon-vs-hardbyte-qabot.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, kotaemon or qabot? kotaemon: Steady. qabot: Dormant. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for kotaemon and qabot? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [kotaemon trust report](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/trust); [qabot trust report](/tools/hardbyte-qabot/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=cinnamon-kotaemon`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=cinnamon-kotaemon) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_