--- title: "kotaemon vs Chat-with-Scanned-Documents" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/cinnamon-kotaemon-vs-tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents" tools: ["cinnamon-kotaemon", "tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents"] --- # kotaemon vs Chat-with-Scanned-Documents *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 Chat-with-Scanned-Documents if leverages Dynamic Web TWAIN for scanning and Tesseract.js for text extraction, integrating LangChain for chat functionality. [kotaemon](https://cinnamon.github.io/kotaemon/) reports 26k GitHub stars, 2.1k forks, and 241 open issues, last pushed Jul 14, 2026. [Chat-with-Scanned-Documents](https://github.com/tony-xlh/Chat-with-Scanned-Documents) has 6 stars, 3 forks, and 0 open issues, last pushed May 25, 2023. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [kotaemon's repository](https://github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon) and [Chat-with-Scanned-Documents's repository](https://github.com/tony-xlh/Chat-with-Scanned-Documents). | | [kotaemon](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon.md) | [Chat-with-Scanned-Documents](/tools/tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | An open-source RAG-based tool for chatting with your documents. | A demo chatting with documents scanned using Dynamic Web TWAIN and Tesseract.js | | Stars | 25,701 | 6 | | Forks | 2,141 | 3 | | Open issues | 241 | 0 | | Language | Python | JavaScript | | 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. | Leverages Dynamic Web TWAIN for scanning and Tesseract.js for text extraction, integrating LangChain for chat functionality. | | 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) | [Chat-with-Scanned-Documents](/tools/tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Steady (60%) | Dormant (18%) | | Days since push | 34d | 1178d | | Open issues (now) | 241 | 0 | | 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/tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents/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: Chat-with-Scanned-Documents - **Adopt for:** Leverages Dynamic Web TWAIN for scanning and Tesseract.js for text extraction, integrating LangChain for chat functionality. ## Choose when ### Choose kotaemon if… - kotaemon is primarily Python; Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is JavaScript. - License: kotaemon is Apache-2.0, Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is MIT. - Tags unique to kotaemon: chatbot, llms, open-source, rag. - kotaemon ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - 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 Chat-with-Scanned-Documents if… - Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is primarily JavaScript; kotaemon is Python. - License: Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is MIT, kotaemon is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to Chat-with-Scanned-Documents: document scanning, dynamic web twain, langchain, ocr. - Need to interact with content from scanned documents ## 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 Chat-with-Scanned-Documents - Situations demanding real-time, high-volume document scanning and processing - Applications requiring more advanced AI chat capabilities beyond LangChain ## Common questions ### What is the difference between kotaemon and Chat-with-Scanned-Documents? kotaemon: An open-source RAG-based tool for chatting with your documents.. Chat-with-Scanned-Documents: A demo chatting with documents scanned using Dynamic Web TWAIN and Tesseract.js. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose kotaemon over Chat-with-Scanned-Documents? Choose kotaemon over Chat-with-Scanned-Documents when kotaemon is primarily Python; Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is JavaScript; License: kotaemon is Apache-2.0, Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is MIT; Tags unique to kotaemon: chatbot, llms, open-source, rag; kotaemon ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; 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 Chat-with-Scanned-Documents over kotaemon? Choose Chat-with-Scanned-Documents over kotaemon when Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is primarily JavaScript; kotaemon is Python; License: Chat-with-Scanned-Documents is MIT, kotaemon is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to Chat-with-Scanned-Documents: document scanning, dynamic web twain, langchain, ocr; Need to interact with content from scanned documents. ### 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 Chat-with-Scanned-Documents? Situations demanding real-time, high-volume document scanning and processing Applications requiring more advanced AI chat capabilities beyond LangChain ### Is kotaemon or Chat-with-Scanned-Documents more popular on GitHub? kotaemon has more GitHub stars (25,701 vs 6). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are kotaemon and Chat-with-Scanned-Documents open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (kotaemon: Apache-2.0, Chat-with-Scanned-Documents: MIT). ### Where can I find alternatives to kotaemon or Chat-with-Scanned-Documents? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [kotaemon alternatives](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/alternatives) and [Chat-with-Scanned-Documents alternatives](/tools/tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents/alternatives) ([kotaemon markdown twin](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/alternatives.md), [Chat-with-Scanned-Documents markdown twin](/tools/tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents/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-tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, kotaemon or Chat-with-Scanned-Documents? kotaemon: Steady. Chat-with-Scanned-Documents: 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 Chat-with-Scanned-Documents? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [kotaemon trust report](/tools/cinnamon-kotaemon/trust); [Chat-with-Scanned-Documents trust report](/tools/tony-xlh-chat-with-scanned-documents/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/_