--- title: "caveman vs RegaVAE" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/juliusbrussee-caveman-vs-trustedllm-regavae" tools: ["juliusbrussee-caveman", "trustedllm-regavae"] --- # caveman vs RegaVAE *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026* ## Verdict Pick caveman if caveman reduces token usage by 65% through minimalistic language for coding agents, supporting two sizes and primarily written in Go; pick RegaVAE if regaVAE is a model that integrates a Variational Auto-Encoder with a retrieval mechanism to enhance language modeling, using a Gaussian mixture distribution to improve latent space representation. [caveman](https://docs.caveman.so/docs/quickstart) reports 106k GitHub stars, 6.2k forks, and 127 open issues, last pushed Sep 18, 2026. [RegaVAE](https://github.com/TrustedLLM/RegaVAE) has 15 stars, 1 forks, and 0 open issues, last pushed Dec 5, 2023. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [caveman's repository](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman) and [RegaVAE's repository](https://github.com/TrustedLLM/RegaVAE). | | [caveman](/tools/juliusbrussee-caveman.md) | [RegaVAE](/tools/trustedllm-regavae.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Reduces token usage by 65% through minimalistic language for coding agents | A Retrieval-Augmented Gaussian Mixture Variational Auto-Encoder for Language Modeling | | Stars | 106,401 | 15 | | Forks | 6,165 | 1 | | Open issues | 127 | 0 | | Language | Go | Python | | Adopt for | Caveman reduces token usage by 65% through minimalistic language for coding agents, supporting two sizes and primarily written in Go. | RegaVAE is a model that integrates a Variational Auto-Encoder with a retrieval mechanism to enhance language modeling, using a Gaussian mixture distribution to improve latent space representation. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Caveman operates under a split license: MIT for the skill, Agent SDK, and initializer, and BSL-1.1 for the engine-linked runtime, which converts to Apache-2.0 by 2030 or four years after shipping. | - | | Categories | AI Agents, Model Training | Model Training | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [caveman](/tools/juliusbrussee-caveman.md) | [RegaVAE](/tools/trustedllm-regavae.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Dormant (18%) | | Days since push | 0d | 1017d | | Open issues (now) | 127 | 0 | | Stars delta | +8.0k (30d) | 0 (30d) | | Open issues delta | -358 (30d) | 0 (30d) | | Owner type | User | Organization | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/juliusbrussee-caveman/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/trustedllm-regavae/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: caveman - **Pricing:** freemium - The skill, Agent SDK, and initializer are free under MIT license. Hosting Caveman for third parties requires a commercial license. - **Requirements:** Min 1 GB RAM; Caveman is primarily written in Go and supports two sizes, allowing for flexible deployment. - **Adopt for:** Caveman reduces token usage by 65% through minimalistic language for coding agents, supporting two sizes and primarily written in Go. - **License detail:** Caveman operates under a split license: MIT for the skill, Agent SDK, and initializer, and BSL-1.1 for the engine-linked runtime, which converts to Apache-2.0 by 2030 or four years after shipping. ## Decision facts: RegaVAE - **Adopt for:** RegaVAE is a model that integrates a Variational Auto-Encoder with a retrieval mechanism to enhance language modeling, using a Gaussian mixture distribution to improve latent space representation. ## Choose when ### Choose caveman if… - caveman is primarily Go; RegaVAE is Python. - Pricing: The skill, Agent SDK, and initializer are free under MIT license. Hosting Caveman for third parties requires a commercial license.. - Requirements: Min 1 GB RAM; Caveman is primarily written in Go and supports two sizes, allowing for flexible deployment.. - Tags unique to caveman: ai, anthropic, caveman, claude. - Also covers AI Agents. - caveman ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - When you need to significantly reduce token usage in coding agents, as Caveman can cut usage by 65% through its simplified language style. ### Choose RegaVAE if… - RegaVAE is primarily Python; caveman is Go. - Tags unique to RegaVAE: gaussian mixture model, hyperparameters, language modeling, latent space. - When you need to enhance language modeling capabilities by integrating retrieval mechanisms with a Variational Auto-Encoder. ## When NOT to use caveman - If your project requires a fully OSI-approved open-source license, as Caveman's engine-linked runtime is BSL-1.1, which is not OSI-approved until a future date. - When you need a tool that does not involve a trademarked name and logo, as Caveman is trademarked and has specific guidelines for its use. ## When NOT to use RegaVAE - If your project does not require the integration of retrieval mechanisms with a Variational Auto-Encoder. - When the datasets you are working with do not align with the specific datasets used in RegaVAE's training (Yelp, Yahoo, WP). - If your project does not benefit from the specific architecture of RegaVAE, which includes a retrieval database and Gaussian mixture distribution in the latent space. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between caveman and RegaVAE? caveman: Reduces token usage by 65% through minimalistic language for coding agents. RegaVAE: A Retrieval-Augmented Gaussian Mixture Variational Auto-Encoder for Language Modeling. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose caveman over RegaVAE? Choose caveman over RegaVAE when caveman is primarily Go; RegaVAE is Python; Pricing: The skill, Agent SDK, and initializer are free under MIT license. Hosting Caveman for third parties requires a commercial license.; Requirements: Min 1 GB RAM; Caveman is primarily written in Go and supports two sizes, allowing for flexible deployment.; Tags unique to caveman: ai, anthropic, caveman, claude; Also covers AI Agents; caveman ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; When you need to significantly reduce token usage in coding agents, as Caveman can cut usage by 65% through its simplified language style. ### When should I choose RegaVAE over caveman? Choose RegaVAE over caveman when RegaVAE is primarily Python; caveman is Go; Tags unique to RegaVAE: gaussian mixture model, hyperparameters, language modeling, latent space; When you need to enhance language modeling capabilities by integrating retrieval mechanisms with a Variational Auto-Encoder. ### When should I avoid caveman? If your project requires a fully OSI-approved open-source license, as Caveman's engine-linked runtime is BSL-1.1, which is not OSI-approved until a future date. When you need a tool that does not involve a trademarked name and logo, as Caveman is trademarked and has specific guidelines for its use. ### When should I avoid RegaVAE? If your project does not require the integration of retrieval mechanisms with a Variational Auto-Encoder. When the datasets you are working with do not align with the specific datasets used in RegaVAE's training (Yelp, Yahoo, WP). If your project does not benefit from the specific architecture of RegaVAE, which includes a retrieval database and Gaussian mixture distribution in the latent space. ### Is caveman or RegaVAE more popular on GitHub? caveman has more GitHub stars (106,401 vs 15). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are caveman and RegaVAE open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub. ### Where can I find alternatives to caveman or RegaVAE? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [caveman alternatives](/tools/juliusbrussee-caveman/alternatives) and [RegaVAE alternatives](/tools/trustedllm-regavae/alternatives) ([caveman markdown twin](/tools/juliusbrussee-caveman/alternatives.md), [RegaVAE markdown twin](/tools/trustedllm-regavae/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/juliusbrussee-caveman-vs-trustedllm-regavae.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, caveman or RegaVAE? caveman: Very active. RegaVAE: 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 caveman and RegaVAE? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [caveman trust report](/tools/juliusbrussee-caveman/trust); [RegaVAE trust report](/tools/trustedllm-regavae/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=juliusbrussee-caveman`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=juliusbrussee-caveman) - 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/_