Self-hosted RAG servers (Docker)
Server tools you run with Docker on your own machine or network, good for teams and always-on setups. 17 tools, sorted by GitHub stars.
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| Tool | Hardware | Fully offline |
|---|---|---|
| Dify Active Difficulty: Medium Community report | Docker; minimum 2 CPU cores, 4GB RAM | ✅ Yes |
| Open WebUI Active Difficulty: Medium Vendor guide | Light server; LLM via Ollama | ✅ Yes |
| Langflow Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Python server | ✅ Yes |
| RAGFlow Active Difficulty: Medium Community report | 4 cores, 16GB RAM, 50GB disk recommended (Docker) | ✅ Yes |
| AnythingLLM Active Difficulty: Easy Community report | Desktop or Docker; built-in engine runs CPU or GPU (NVIDIA CUDA, AMD/Intel Vulkan) | ✅ Yes |
| Flowise Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Node server | ✅ Yes |
| LibreChat No tracked release Difficulty: Medium Community report | Server + separate RAG API with pgvector | ⚠️ Needs config |
| Open Notebook Active Difficulty: Medium Community report | Docker | ✅ Yes |
| Khoj Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Server; GPU optional | ✅ Yes |
| Onyx Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker; 16GB RAM suggested | ✅ Yes |
| Kotaemon Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker; GPU optional | ✅ Yes |
| MaxKB Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker (PostgreSQL + pgvector) | ✅ Yes |
| DocsGPT Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker (installer runs Docker Compose; pip, Kubernetes and air-gapped installs documented) | ✅ Yes |
| R2R Stale (no release in 12+ months) Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker, Postgres | ⚠️ Needs config |
| Verba Stale (no release in 12+ months) Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker + Weaviate | ✅ Yes |
| PipesHub Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker stack | ✅ Yes |
| RAG Web UI Active Difficulty: Medium Docs only | Docker | ✅ Yes |
How we know: Docs only = taken from the project's own README/docs, not tested by us. Community report = an owner published a working (or problem) report; links to the source. Vendor guide = an official NVIDIA playbook exists. We have not hands-on tested any tool yet, so nothing here says "Tested by RAGShelf".
Setup recipes
Comparisons
- AnythingLLM vs Open WebUI
- AnythingLLM vs RAGFlow
- AnythingLLM vs PrivateGPT
- RAGFlow vs Dify
- Open WebUI vs LibreChat
- Flowise vs Langflow
- Onyx vs PipesHub
- Khoj vs Open Notebook
Groupings use only what each listing's data supports. Last updated 2026-10-26.
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