Letta vs LLMWare
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Letta | LLMWare |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 24,864 | ★ 14,832 |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | OpenAI Assistants | OpenAI Assistants |
What are Letta and LLMWare?
Letta
Letta, formerly known as MemGPT, is an open-source framework for building LLM agents with persistent memory and advanced reasoning. It provides a server, agent development kit, and visual interface for creating stateful assistants.
- Persistent agent memory
- Self-editing context
- Agent Development Kit
- Visual agent editor
LLMWare
LLMWare is an open-source framework for building retrieval-augmented generation pipelines optimized for small, specialized language models. It provides document parsing, embeddings, and model management for fully self-hosted deployments.
- Small model optimized
- Document parsing pipeline
- Embedded vector storage
- Model catalog
Letta vs LLMWare: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Letta is the lighter option, starting around 2,048 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for LLMWare.
Why pick each one
Choose Letta if…
- Persistent agent memory
- Visual agent builder
- Model-agnostic design
Watch out for
- Concept-heavy
- Best with capable models
Choose LLMWare if…
- Optimized for small models
- Integrated document parsing
- CPU-friendly pipelines
Watch out for
- Library not turnkey app
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Letta or LLMWare better?
Neither is universally better. Letta has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Letta and LLMWare free and open-source?
Yes. Letta is licensed under Apache-2.0 and LLMWare under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Letta and LLMWare with Docker?
Letta: yes. LLMWare: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Letta or LLMWare?
Letta has the smaller minimum footprint at 2,048 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for LLMWare. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.