Khoj vs Reor
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Khoj
Self-hostable AI assistant over your personal notes
VS
Reor
Archived
AI-powered local-first personal knowledge management app
| Feature | Khoj | Reor |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 37,485 | ★ 8,551 |
| First released | 2021 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Notion AI, Evernote | Evernote, Notion |
What are Khoj and Reor?
Khoj
Khoj is an open-source, self-hostable AI application that lets you search and chat with your notes, documents, and knowledge base. It connects to Markdown, Org-mode, PDF, and other personal data sources.
- AI chat over personal notes
- Semantic search across documents
- Connects many data sources
- Self-hostable
Reor
Reor is an open-source, private, local-first AI note-taking application. It automatically links related notes, runs AI models locally, and stores everything as plain Markdown files on your machine.
- Local AI models
- Automatic note linking
- Plain Markdown storage
- Semantic search
Khoj vs Reor: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Reor's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Khoj is actively maintained. Khoj is written in Python, while Reor is built with JavaScript. Reor is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Khoj. Khoj is the more established project (first released 2021), while Reor arrived in 2024. Khoj has the considerably larger community, at 37,485 GitHub stars versus 8,551. Khoj lists first-class Docker deployment; Reor does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Khoj if…
- Turns notes into an AI knowledge base
- Supports local LLMs
Watch out for
- Higher resource needs
- Setup more involved
Choose Reor if…
- AI features without sending data away
- Notes stay as portable files
Watch out for
- AI features need more RAM
- Younger project
Frequently asked questions
Is Khoj or Reor better?
Neither is universally better. Khoj has the larger community, while Reor is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Khoj and Reor free and open-source?
Yes. Khoj is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Reor under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Khoj and Reor with Docker?
Khoj: yes. Reor: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Khoj or Reor?
Reor has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Khoj. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.