BionicGPT vs Onyx
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Onyx
AI assistant connected to your company's knowledge
| Feature | BionicGPT | Onyx |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,371 | ★ 32,216 |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | ChatGPT Enterprise | Glean, ChatGPT Enterprise |
What are BionicGPT and Onyx?
BionicGPT
BionicGPT is an enterprise-ready generative AI platform that delivers ChatGPT-style capabilities while keeping all data on-premise. It includes RAG, team management, and an assistant builder backed by open models.
- On-premise chat assistant
- Built-in RAG pipelines
- Team and permission controls
- Assistant builder
Onyx
Onyx, formerly Danswer, is an open-source AI platform that connects to company tools and documents to provide an enterprise search and chat assistant. It supports many connectors, custom assistants, and self-hosted models.
- 40+ data connectors
- Custom AI assistants
- Enterprise search
- Self-hosted models
BionicGPT vs Onyx: key differences
BionicGPT is written in Rust, while Onyx is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for BionicGPT versus MIT for Onyx. BionicGPT is the lighter option, starting around 4,096 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for Onyx. Onyx has the considerably larger community, at 32,216 GitHub stars versus 2,371.
Why pick each one
Choose BionicGPT if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
Choose Onyx if…
- Many knowledge connectors
- Custom AI assistants
- SSO support included
Watch out for
- Heavy resource requirements
- Some features enterprise-only
Frequently asked questions
Is BionicGPT or Onyx better?
Neither is universally better. Onyx has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are BionicGPT and Onyx free and open-source?
Yes. BionicGPT is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Onyx under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BionicGPT and Onyx with Docker?
BionicGPT: yes. Onyx: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, BionicGPT or Onyx?
BionicGPT has the smaller minimum footprint at 4,096 MB of RAM, compared to about 8,192 MB for Onyx. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.