What is MaxKB?
MaxKB (Max Knowledge Brain) is an open-source platform for building question-answering assistants and agents over your own documents, from FIT2CLOUD, the company behind the 1Panel server panel. You upload files or point it at a website; it splits, embeds and stores them in PostgreSQL with pgvector, then serves chat apps that answer from that knowledge. A visual workflow editor, a function library and MCP tool calls handle multi-step jobs, and it works with hosted models such as OpenAI, Claude and Gemini or local ones such as DeepSeek, Qwen and Llama.
The stack is Django and LangChain on the back end with a Vue front end, licensed GPL-3.0. Version 2, released in July 2025, removed the old community-edition caps on apps, knowledge bases and users. Two long-term-support lines are maintained: v2.10.8-lts shipped on 22 October 2026 and v1.10.15-lts in August. Paid Professional and Enterprise editions add SSO, role-based access and multi-tenancy.
How much does MaxKB cost?
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Free | Single tenant, x86 only, no SSO or role management |
| Professional | ¥48,000 per deployment | Perpetual; SSO, full RBAC, WeCom/DingTalk/Feishu/Slack, 5x8 support |
| Enterprise | By quote | Multi-tenant, cluster deployment, 7x24 support |
Community Edition free (GPL-3.0), single tenant, community support. Professional ¥48,000 per deployment, perpetual, including one year of maintenance, then ¥9,600 a year. Enterprise by quote.
Is MaxKB worth it?
MaxKB does the job most companies actually want from an AI platform, a chat assistant that answers from their own documents, and it does it with fewer moving parts than Dify. A single docker run command starts the whole thing on port 8080, with PostgreSQL and pgvector inside the container. The workflow editor, function library and MCP support cover the multi-step cases, and since version 2 the free edition has no limits on agents, knowledge bases or users.
The security record is the first thing to read. The repository lists 47 published advisories dated 2026, three of them critical: a prompt-injectable agent that could reach command execution, credential injection in the AWS Bedrock model setup leading to remote code execution, and a password-reset code that could be brute-forced. Others cover a hardcoded default Django secret key, sandbox escapes from the function library, SSRF through the web crawler and MCP configuration, and several cross-tenant read and write bugs. Seven more landed on 16 October. For scale, Open WebUI's security page lists 159 advisories for the same year, so the count partly reflects how hard researchers are looking at these platforms. FIT2CLOUD fixes them quickly and publishes them openly, which is to its credit, but anyone running MaxKB on a network needs to track LTS releases closely and change the documented default admin password (MaxKB@123..) on first login.
The open-core line falls in an awkward place for a company deployment. The Community Edition has no role management, no LDAP, OIDC or SAML login, no operation logs and no open API; the Professional Edition adds those at ¥48,000 per instance. Open WebUI, by contrast, includes LDAP and OAuth sign-in in its free self-hosted build. GPL-3.0 is unproblematic for internal use but matters if you plan to redistribute a modified build.
The ecosystem leans towards China. Built-in channel integrations are WeCom, DingTalk, Feishu and WeChat Official Accounts, alongside Slack, and the documentation and much of the issue traffic are in Chinese. With 23,042 stars and five releases since August it is plainly alive; it is simply built for a different default buyer than Dify or AnythingLLM.
Where it earns its place
An IT manager at a 300-person manufacturer using DingTalk
Give staff a chat assistant that answers from HR and process documents
Run the Docker image, upload the documents into a knowledge base and publish an app. Pushing it into DingTalk with SSO needs the Professional Edition at ¥48,000 plus ¥9,600 a year from year two.
A university IT team running a course help desk
Answer student questions from syllabi and policy pages
Use the web crawler to sync policy pages and the free Community Edition for the chat app. Restrict the crawler, which has had an SSRF advisory, to approved hosts and keep the instance behind the campus network.
A platform engineer evaluating Dify, RAGFlow and MaxKB
Pick a self-hosted RAG platform that is simple to operate
MaxKB's single container is the lightest of the three to run. Budget time for patching: in 2026 the project has averaged several advisories a month, and the cross-workspace bugs matter if several teams share one instance.
Before you commit
- Setup
- docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -v ~/.maxkb:/opt/maxkb 1panel/maxkb, then log in as admin with the documented default password and change it. An offline installer exists for networks that cannot reach Docker Hub.
- Integrations
- Hosted and local model providers, MCP tools, a function library and a JavaScript or iframe embed. WeCom, DingTalk, Feishu, WeChat Official Accounts, Slack and the open API are Professional features.
- Data and privacy
- Self-hosted; documents, vectors and chat logs live in your PostgreSQL. Model calls go to whichever provider you configure. 47 advisories were published in 2026, including remote code execution via prompt injection and Bedrock credentials, fixed in later releases.
- Cost at scale
- Community Edition costs only the server. Professional is ¥48,000 per deployment with ¥9,600 a year maintenance after year one; Enterprise, needed for multi-tenancy and clustering, is by quote.
- Limits
- Community Edition is single-tenant with no role management, SSO or audit logs, and runs on x86 only. Cluster deployment is Enterprise-only, and the function-library sandbox has had several escape advisories.
What's good
- One-container install with PostgreSQL and pgvector included
- No caps on agents, knowledge bases or users in the free edition
- Two maintained LTS lines with frequent releases
- Advisories published openly and patched quickly
What's not
- 47 security advisories in 2026, three critical
- SSO, RBAC and audit logs only in the paid ¥48,000 edition
- Community Edition runs on x86 only
- Documentation and integrations centred on Chinese platforms
Best for
IT teams in organisations on WeCom, DingTalk or Feishu that want a self-hosted document assistant and can keep up with security patches.
MaxKB alternatives
MaxKB: common questions
- Is MaxKB worth it?
- MaxKB is a capable Dify alternative for Chinese enterprise stacks, provided you treat its security track record as a standing operational cost. We rate it 3.7 out of 5.
- How much does MaxKB cost?
- Community Edition free (GPL-3.0), single tenant, community support. Professional ¥48,000 per deployment, perpetual, including one year of maintenance, then ¥9,600 a year. Enterprise by quote.
- What are the downsides of MaxKB?
- 47 security advisories in 2026, three critical; sSO, RBAC and audit logs only in the paid ¥48,000 edition; community Edition runs on x86 only; documentation and integrations centred on Chinese platforms.
- Who is MaxKB best for?
- IT teams in organisations on WeCom, DingTalk or Feishu that want a self-hosted document assistant and can keep up with security patches.
- How much does MaxKB cost for a team or in production?
- Community Edition costs only the server. Professional is ¥48,000 per deployment with ¥9,600 a year maintenance after year one; Enterprise, needed for multi-tenancy and clustering, is by quote.
- Is MaxKB safe for company data?
- Self-hosted; documents, vectors and chat logs live in your PostgreSQL. Model calls go to whichever provider you configure. 47 advisories were published in 2026, including remote code execution via prompt injection and Bedrock credentials, fixed in later releases.
- What are the best MaxKB alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are Dify, RAGFlow, AnythingLLM, Open WebUI and Coze Studio.
Answers checked Oct 26, 2026.