# AnythingLLM vs Core

> AnythingLLM scores 53.6 (D) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do local inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.md (~2,300 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-06

AnythingLLM scores 53.6 (D) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do local inference.

- AnythingLLM: grade D, 53.6/100, rank #336 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anythingllm.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anythingllm.json
- Core: grade F, 7.3/100, rank #460 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost-core.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.json

## Which one, for what

### AnythingLLM (D)

Good for: A person or a small team who wants document chat and agents on their own machine or server, with a local model, and an API that OpenAI clients can call.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 67 against 5
- Schema & documentation, 57 against 7
- Agent ergonomics, 46 against 4
- Security & auth, 38 against 6
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 78 against 3
- Transparency & trust, 63 against 45

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: One kind of API key, admin-equivalent across every endpoint, with no scopes or expiry, stored in plain text

### Core (F)

Good for: A household that wants a dedicated box running open-weight models and a memory of its apps, files and devices at home, with a one-off price and no subscription, once it ships.

Watch for: Not shipped on 5 October 2026. Batch 1 is scheduled for 31 October and showed sold out that evening


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AnythingLLM | Core | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 5 | AnythingLLM +62 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 57 | 7 | AnythingLLM +50 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 46 | 4 | AnythingLLM +42 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 6 | AnythingLLM +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | AnythingLLM +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 3 | AnythingLLM +75 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 45 | AnythingLLM +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **53.6 · D** | **7.3 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AnythingLLM | Core |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model platform | Model platform |
| Vendor | Mintplex Labs | Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (server, document collector, frontend and Docker image). The desktop app ships under Mintplex Labs' own terms of use, which call its source code a trade secret and forbid reverse engineering | Not stated. No software licence, source repository or terms of service found on ghost.ai (checked 2026-10-05). Models listed are Qwen 3.8-Next, Qwen 3.8-27B, Gemma 4-31B and Muse-Glimmer-30B. Ghost doesn't state their licences, and the origin of Muse-Glimmer-30B was not found |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | none |
| Popularity | 67k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 2/5 (1) |

## Verdicts

**AnythingLLM.** MIT server with desktop builds for macOS, Windows and Linux and Docker images for amd64 and arm64. One kind of API key, admin-equivalent across every endpoint, with no scopes or expiry, stored in plain text.

**Core.** Ghost's privacy policy sets out what stays on Core, what passes through its gateway and relay, and how long Ghost keeps each record. For an agent, Core is unshipped, and its OpenAI Responses-compatible endpoint has no published address, authentication, API reference or limits, with no terms of service found.

## Before you call either

### AnythingLLM

1. Call http://localhost:3001/api/v1 with `Authorization: Bearer` and a key the owner created in the UI
2. Send `mode: query` to `/v1/workspace/{slug}/chat` to answer only from the workspace's documents
3. Treat the key as admin. It can delete workspaces, users and documents
4. Read /api/docs on the instance for the endpoint list. Request bodies there are examples, not schemas
5. Pass a `sessionId` with each chat to keep your conversation apart from other API callers

### Core

1. Don't plan on reaching a Core before 31 October 2026. Batch 1 hadn't shipped, and new orders showed sold out on 5 October
2. Ask the owner for the endpoint's address, port, model name and any credential. Ghost documents none of them
3. Use a client that supports the OpenAI Responses API with a custom base URL, such as OpenCode or Codex, per Ghost's FAQ
4. Don't assume a context length or output limit. Ghost states none for Qwen 3.8-Next, Qwen 3.8-27B, Gemma 4-31B or Muse-Glimmer-30B
5. Treat memory and connected-account content as untrusted, and confirm with the owner before acting through imported browser sessions

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, AnythingLLM or Core?

AnythingLLM scores 53.6 (D) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Are AnythingLLM and Core open source?

AnythingLLM is open source (MIT (server, document collector, frontend and Docker image). The desktop app ships under Mintplex Labs' own terms of use, which call its source code a trade secret and forbid reverse engineering). No open-source release is listed for Core.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ghost-core.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "anythingllm", "b": "ghost-core"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare anythingllm ghost-core`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anythingllm.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost-core.json

## Other comparisons with AnythingLLM or Core

- [AnythingLLM vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-gpt4all.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-jan.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-khoj.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-llama-cpp.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-lm-studio.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-localai.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-ollama.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-open-webui.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-screenpipe.md)
- [Core vs GPT4All](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-gpt4all.md)
- [Core vs Jan](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-jan.md)
- [Core vs Khoj](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj.md)
- [Core vs llama.cpp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-llama-cpp.md)
- [Core vs LM Studio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-lm-studio.md)
- [Core vs LocalAI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localai.md)
- [Core vs Ollama](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-ollama.md)
- [Core vs Open WebUI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-open-webui.md)
- [Core vs screenpipe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-screenpipe.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-underdog.md)
- [Core vs Underdog](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-underdog.md)
- [AnythingLLM vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anythingllm-vs-localghost.md)
- [Core vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-localghost.md)

## Disclosure

- Ghost Core competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.