Home/Compare/minima vs R2R

Comparison

minima vs R2R

Verdict

Pick minima when license: minima is MPL-2.0, R2R is MIT; pick R2R when license: R2R is MIT, minima is MPL-2.0.

Markdown twin · minima alternatives · R2R alternatives

GraphCanon updated today

minima logo

minima

dmayboroda/minima

1.0kpushed Jan 22, 2026
vs
R2R logo

R2R

SciPhi-AI/R2R

7.9kpushed Nov 7, 2025

Trust & integrity

SignalminimaR2R
Maintenance
Slowing (170d since push)
As of today · github_public_v1
Slowing (246d since push)
As of today · github_public_v1
Provenance
Not a fork · Personal account
As of today · github_public_v1
Not a fork · Organization account
As of today · github_public_v1
Security (OSV)
No MCP manifest
As of today · mcp_manifest
No lockfile
As of today · none

Tagline

minima
On-premises conversational RAG with configurable containers
R2R
SoTA production-ready AI retrieval system. Agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with a RESTful API.

Stars

minima
1.0k
R2R
7.9k

Forks

minima
103
R2R
644

Open issues

minima
14
R2R
122

Language

minima
Python
R2R
Python

Adopt for

minima
-
R2R
R2R is designed for developers aiming to integrate state-of-the-art retrieval abilities into their applications via a RESTful API.

Persona

minima
-
R2R
-

Runtime

minima
-
R2R
-

License

minima
MPL-2.0
R2R
MIT

Last pushed

minima
Jan 22, 2026
R2R
Nov 7, 2025

Categories

minima
Data & Retrieval, LLM Frameworks
R2R
LLM Frameworks, Data & Retrieval, AI Agents

Trust and health

Days since push

minima
170d
R2R
246d

Open issues (now)

minima
14
R2R
122

Owner type

minima
User
R2R
Organization

Security scan

minima
No MCP manifest
R2R
No lockfile

Full report

Choose minima if…

  • License: minima is MPL-2.0, R2R is MIT.
  • Tags unique to minima: ai, custom-gpts, docker, docker-compose.
  • More recently updated (last pushed Jan 22, 2026).

When NOT to use minima

  • Last GitHub push was 170 days ago (slowing maintenance, Jan 22, 2026). Validate activity before betting a new project on minima.
  • Data & Retrieval: Skip a heavy ingestion framework when your corpus is small and static; a script plus the embedding API is enough.
  • LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves.

Choose R2R if…

  • License: R2R is MIT, minima is MPL-2.0.
  • Pricing: Details on pricing are not available; the license is MIT, allowing for free use in both open-source and commercial projects..
  • Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker.
  • Tags unique to R2R: search, artificial-intelligence, python, large-language-models.
  • Also covers AI Agents.
  • - When your application requires precise and advanced retrieval capabilities that can be easily integrated via a RESTful interface.

When NOT to use R2R

  • - If the project does not require high-level retrieval or generation abilities, as R2R is more suited for comprehensive integration in applications demanding advanced AI services.
  • - When a simpler or lighter integration is needed, as R2R might offer more features than required leading to unnecessary complexity.

Explore

Sources

Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.

GitHub stars on cards: minima 1.0k · R2R 7.9k (synced Jul 11, 2026).

Common questions

What is the difference between minima and R2R?
minima: On-premises conversational RAG with configurable containers. R2R: SoTA production-ready AI retrieval system. Agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with a RESTful API.. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.
When should I choose minima over R2R?
Choose minima over R2R when License: minima is MPL-2.0, R2R is MIT; Tags unique to minima: ai, custom-gpts, docker, docker-compose; More recently updated (last pushed Jan 22, 2026).
When should I choose R2R over minima?
Choose R2R over minima when License: R2R is MIT, minima is MPL-2.0; Pricing: Details on pricing are not available; the license is MIT, allowing for free use in both open-source and commercial projects.; Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Tags unique to R2R: search, artificial-intelligence, python, large-language-models; Also covers AI Agents; - When your application requires precise and advanced retrieval capabilities that can be easily integrated via a RESTful interface.
When should I avoid minima?
Last GitHub push was 170 days ago (slowing maintenance, Jan 22, 2026). Validate activity before betting a new project on minima. Data & Retrieval: Skip a heavy ingestion framework when your corpus is small and static; a script plus the embedding API is enough. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves.
When should I avoid R2R?
- If the project does not require high-level retrieval or generation abilities, as R2R is more suited for comprehensive integration in applications demanding advanced AI services. - When a simpler or lighter integration is needed, as R2R might offer more features than required leading to unnecessary complexity.
Is minima or R2R more popular on GitHub?
R2R has more GitHub stars (7,926 vs 1,049). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
Are minima and R2R open source?
Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (minima: MPL-2.0, R2R: MIT).
Where can I find alternatives to minima or R2R?
GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at minima alternatives and R2R alternatives (minima markdown twin, R2R markdown twin), 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 mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.
Which is better maintained, minima or R2R?
minima: Slowing. R2R: 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 minima and R2R?
GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: minima trust report; R2R trust report.