Agno vs Cognita
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Agno | Cognita |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 42,325 | ★ 4,419 |
| First released | 2024 | 2024 |
| Replaces | LangChain | LangChain |
What are Agno and Cognita?
Agno
Agno is a Python framework for building autonomous AI agents with memory, knowledge, and tools. It is designed to be fast and model-agnostic, supporting reasoning and multi-agent teams.
- Multi-agent teams
- Built-in memory and knowledge
- Model agnostic
- Fast agent instantiation
Cognita
Cognita is an open-source RAG framework that organizes retrieval-augmented generation code into reusable, modular components. It offers a UI for non-technical users and APIs for developers building document-grounded AI applications.
- Modular RAG components
- No-code UI
- Multiple vector store support
- Incremental indexing
Agno vs Cognita: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Cognita's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Agno is actively maintained. Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — MPL-2.0 for Agno versus Apache-2.0 for Cognita. Agno is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Cognita. Agno has the considerably larger community, at 42,325 GitHub stars versus 4,419. Cognita lists first-class Docker deployment; Agno does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Agno if…
- Fast agent startup
- Model-agnostic design
- Built-in memory support
Watch out for
- Rapidly changing APIs
- Python only
Choose Cognita if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Watch out for
- Younger ecosystem
- Documentation gaps
Frequently asked questions
Is Agno or Cognita better?
Neither is universally better. Agno has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Agno and Cognita free and open-source?
Yes. Agno is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Cognita under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Agno and Cognita with Docker?
Agno: check the project docs for container support. Cognita: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Agno or Cognita?
Agno has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Cognita. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.