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Khoj

A self-hostable AI second brain that answers from your notes and the web with a model you choose.

Instead of ChatGPT, Claude

M · ToolOpen sourceSelf-hostableWorks with local models
khoj.dev
Screenshot of the Khoj website

Screenshot from khoj.dev, taken 2026-10-30, shown to help you recognise the tool. It belongs to its maker. Ask us to remove it.

Everyone has a notes folder they swear they will search properly one day, and Khoj is an assistant that finally reads it. You can reach it from a browser, Obsidian, Emacs, a desktop app, a phone or WhatsApp, point it at local or online models, and let it answer from your documents or the web. The page says it is open source and self-hostable, always.

Khoj scores a 5 on lock-in, a 4 on self-direction and delivery and a 3 on footprint, power and longevity.

The licence is AGPL-3.0 and the project calls itself community-sustained while pointing to a newer project called Pipali, so we gave Longevity a 3 until that picture is clearer. A cloud app and enterprise options exist alongside the free version. The page does not say that every feature works fully offline, and the commit dates were blank when we read it.

    What stands out

  • Answers from your notes and the web in a browser, Obsidian, Emacs or WhatsApp
  • AGPL-3.0, self-hostable, with a cloud app next to it
  • The page calls it community-sustained and promotes a newer project
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For comparison, we also reviewed ChatGPT (14/30) and Claude (15/30) as a benchmark.

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