Fabric vs RAGFlow
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Fabric
Open-source framework for augmenting humans with AI
VS
RAGFlow
RAG engine with deep document understanding
| Feature | Fabric | RAGFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 43,353 | ★ 87,057 |
| First released | 2024 | 2024 |
| Replaces | ChatGPT | NotebookLM |
Why pick each one
Choose Fabric if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 43.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose RAGFlow if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 87.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Fabric or RAGFlow better?
Neither is universally better. RAGFlow has the larger community, while Fabric is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Fabric and RAGFlow free and open-source?
Yes. Fabric is licensed under MIT and RAGFlow under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fabric and RAGFlow with Docker?
Fabric: check the project docs for container support. RAGFlow: yes.