--- title: "rag-time vs moby" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/microsoft-rag-time-vs-moby-moby" tools: ["microsoft-rag-time", "moby-moby"] --- # rag-time vs moby *GraphCanon updated Jul 11, 2026* ## Verdict Pick rag-time when rag-time is primarily Jupyter Notebook; moby is Go; pick moby when moby is primarily Go; rag-time is Jupyter Notebook. [rag-time](https://github.com/microsoft/rag-time) reports 894 GitHub stars, 316 forks, and 4 open issues, last pushed Jun 17, 2025. [moby](https://mobyproject.org/) has 72k stars, 19k forks, and 3.8k open issues, last pushed Jul 10, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [rag-time's repository](https://github.com/microsoft/rag-time) and [moby's repository](https://github.com/moby/moby). | | [rag-time](/tools/microsoft-rag-time.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | RAG Time: A 5-week Learning Journey to Mastering RAG | The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems | | Stars | 894 | 71,899 | | Forks | 316 | 19,126 | | Open issues | 4 | 3,821 | | Language | Jupyter Notebook | Go | | Adopt for | - | - | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | MIT | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Vector Databases, LLM Frameworks, Inference & Serving | LLM Frameworks, Inference & Serving, Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [rag-time](/tools/microsoft-rag-time.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Dormant (18%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 388d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 4 | 3.8k | | Security scan | No lockfile | No criticals | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/microsoft-rag-time/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust.md) | ## Choose when ### Choose rag-time if… - rag-time is primarily Jupyter Notebook; moby is Go. - License: rag-time is MIT, moby is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to rag-time: ai, binary-quantization, generative-ai, gpt. - Also covers Vector Databases. ### Choose moby if… - moby is primarily Go; rag-time is Jupyter Notebook. - License: moby is Apache-2.0, rag-time is MIT. - Tags unique to moby: go, docker, golang, containers. - Also covers Developer Tools. - moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ## When NOT to use rag-time - Last GitHub push was 389 days ago (dormant maintenance, Jun 17, 2025). Validate activity before betting a new project on rag-time. - Vector Databases: Don't reach for a dedicated vector DB under ~100k vectors; pgvector on your existing Postgres is simpler to operate. - LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. - Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. ## When NOT to use moby - LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. - Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. - Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between rag-time and moby? rag-time: RAG Time: A 5-week Learning Journey to Mastering RAG. moby: The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose rag-time over moby? Choose rag-time over moby when rag-time is primarily Jupyter Notebook; moby is Go; License: rag-time is MIT, moby is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to rag-time: ai, binary-quantization, generative-ai, gpt; Also covers Vector Databases. ### When should I choose moby over rag-time? Choose moby over rag-time when moby is primarily Go; rag-time is Jupyter Notebook; License: moby is Apache-2.0, rag-time is MIT; Tags unique to moby: go, docker, golang, containers; Also covers Developer Tools; moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ### When should I avoid rag-time? Last GitHub push was 389 days ago (dormant maintenance, Jun 17, 2025). Validate activity before betting a new project on rag-time. Vector Databases: Don't reach for a dedicated vector DB under ~100k vectors; pgvector on your existing Postgres is simpler to operate. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. ### When should I avoid moby? LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. ### Is rag-time or moby more popular on GitHub? moby has more GitHub stars (71,899 vs 894). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are rag-time and moby open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (rag-time: MIT, moby: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to rag-time or moby? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [rag-time alternatives](/tools/microsoft-rag-time/alternatives) and [moby alternatives](/tools/moby-moby/alternatives) ([rag-time markdown twin](/tools/microsoft-rag-time/alternatives.md), [moby markdown twin](/tools/moby-moby/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/microsoft-rag-time-vs-moby-moby.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, rag-time or moby? rag-time: Dormant. moby: Very active. 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 rag-time and moby? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [rag-time trust report](/tools/microsoft-rag-time/trust); [moby trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=microsoft-rag-time`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=microsoft-rag-time) - 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/_