--- title: "kotaemon vs ArkhamMirror" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/cinnamon-kotaemon-vs-mantisfury-arkhammirror" tools: ["cinnamon-kotaemon", "mantisfury-arkhammirror"] --- # kotaemon vs ArkhamMirror *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 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 ArkhamMirror if arkhamMirror is a privacy-focused, self-hosted document intelligence platform with entity extraction and knowledge graph creation capabilities tailored for investigative journalists in air-gapped environments. [kotaemon](https://cinnamon.github.io/kotaemon/) reports 26k GitHub stars, 2.1k forks, and 241 open issues, last pushed Jul 14, 2026. [ArkhamMirror](https://github.com/mantisfury/ArkhamMirror) has 490 stars, 49 forks, and 0 open issues, last pushed Jan 25, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [kotaemon's repository](https://github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon) and [ArkhamMirror's repository](https://github.com/mantisfury/ArkhamMirror). | | [kotaemon](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon.md) | [ArkhamMirror](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | An open-source RAG-based tool for chatting with your documents. | Local-first AI-powered document intelligence platform for investigative journalism | | Stars | 25,701 | 490 | | Forks | 2,141 | 49 | | Open issues | 241 | 0 | | 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. | ArkhamMirror is a privacy-focused, self-hosted document intelligence platform with entity extraction and knowledge graph creation capabilities tailored for investigative journalists in air-gapped environments. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | MIT | | Categories | Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools | Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [kotaemon](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon.md) | [ArkhamMirror](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Steady (60%) | Slowing (36%) | | Days since push | 34d | 237d | | Open issues (now) | 241 | 0 | | Stars delta | +138 (30d) | +6 (30d) | | Open issues delta | +4 (30d) | 0 (30d) | | Owner type | Organization | User | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/trust.md) | ## Shared compatibility - **Python**: [kotaemon](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon.md) - Python runtime; [ArkhamMirror](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror.md) - Python runtime ## 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: ArkhamMirror - **Requirements:** Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker - **Adopt for:** ArkhamMirror is a privacy-focused, self-hosted document intelligence platform with entity extraction and knowledge graph creation capabilities tailored for investigative journalists in air-gapped environments. ## Choose when ### Choose kotaemon if… - License: kotaemon is Apache-2.0, ArkhamMirror is MIT. - Tags unique to kotaemon: chatbot, llms, open-source, rag. - 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 ArkhamMirror if… - License: ArkhamMirror is MIT, kotaemon is Apache-2.0. - Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker. - Tags unique to ArkhamMirror: air-gapped, data-visualization, digital-forensics, docker. - When handling sensitive data that requires strict privacy controls and confidentiality ## 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 ArkhamMirror - When you require cloud-based services or real-time collaboration features that are not available in a self-hosted solution - For general-purpose document intelligence tasks that do not involve investigative journalism or detailed privacy requirements - If your project's success depends on the integration with specific third-party APIs or cloud storage systems - In scenarios where continuous online data synchronization and real-time updates to central servers are essential ## Common questions ### What is the difference between kotaemon and ArkhamMirror? kotaemon: An open-source RAG-based tool for chatting with your documents.. ArkhamMirror: Local-first AI-powered document intelligence platform for investigative journalism. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose kotaemon over ArkhamMirror? Choose kotaemon over ArkhamMirror when License: kotaemon is Apache-2.0, ArkhamMirror is MIT; Tags unique to kotaemon: chatbot, llms, open-source, rag; 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 ArkhamMirror over kotaemon? Choose ArkhamMirror over kotaemon when License: ArkhamMirror is MIT, kotaemon is Apache-2.0; Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Tags unique to ArkhamMirror: air-gapped, data-visualization, digital-forensics, docker; When handling sensitive data that requires strict privacy controls and confidentiality. ### 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 ArkhamMirror? When you require cloud-based services or real-time collaboration features that are not available in a self-hosted solution For general-purpose document intelligence tasks that do not involve investigative journalism or detailed privacy requirements If your project's success depends on the integration with specific third-party APIs or cloud storage systems In scenarios where continuous online data synchronization and real-time updates to central servers are essential ### Is kotaemon or ArkhamMirror more popular on GitHub? kotaemon has more GitHub stars (25,701 vs 490). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are kotaemon and ArkhamMirror open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (kotaemon: Apache-2.0, ArkhamMirror: MIT). ### Where can I find alternatives to kotaemon or ArkhamMirror? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [kotaemon alternatives](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/alternatives) and [ArkhamMirror alternatives](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/alternatives) ([kotaemon markdown twin](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/alternatives.md), [ArkhamMirror markdown twin](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/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-mantisfury-arkhammirror.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, kotaemon or ArkhamMirror? kotaemon: Steady. ArkhamMirror: Slowing. 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 ArkhamMirror? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [kotaemon trust report](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/trust); [ArkhamMirror trust report](/tools/mantisfury-arkhammirror/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/_