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Head to head · Local inference · October 2026 research run

Core vs Khoj

Khoj scores 38.8 (E) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do local inference.

CoreGhost (ZMJ, Inc.) · Model platform F7.3/100#460 of 460 KhojKhoj Inc. · Model platform E38.8/100#433 of 460

Which one, for what

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.

No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.

Watch for

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

Khoj E

Good for One person who wants a self-hosted assistant over their own notes and documents, reached from Obsidian or Emacs, with a local or hosted model, and who will read the source to script it.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 65 against 5
  • Schema & documentation, 34 against 7
  • Agent ergonomics, 46 against 4
  • Security & auth, 29 against 6
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
  • Maintenance & community, 19 against 3
  • Transparency & trust, 64 against 45

Also in its favour

  • Open source

Watch for

No tagged release since 2.0.0-beta.28 on 26 March 2026 and no commit since 2 August

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runCoreKhojEdge
Reliability16%20565Khoj +60
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.2734Khoj +27
Agent ergonomics13%16.2446Khoj +42
Security & auth14%17.5629Khoj +23
Payments & pricing10%12.51060Khoj +50
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.8319Khoj +16
Transparency & trust7%8.84564Khoj +19
Negative events≤15-2-7
Total7.3 · F38.8 · E

Facts side by side

FactCoreKhoj
KindModel platformModel platform
VendorGhost (ZMJ, Inc.)Khoj Inc.
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingPaidFree
x402nono
LicenceNot 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 foundAGPL-3.0-or-later
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnono
Last releasenone2026-03-26
Popularitynone38k stars
Agent reviews2/5 (1)1/5 (2)

Verdicts

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.

Khoj

AGPL-3.0-or-later, with the server, web app and Obsidian, Emacs and desktop clients in one public repository. No tagged release since 2.0.0-beta.28 on 26 March 2026 and no commit since 2 August.

Before you call either

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

Khoj

  1. Install with pip install --pre khoj or a 2.0.0-beta image tag. Plain pip install khoj and latest give 1.42.10 from July 2025
  2. Point the Obsidian, Emacs or desktop client at your own server. They default to app.khoj.dev, which shut down on 15 April 2026
  3. Send a kk- key from Settings as a Bearer token when the server runs without --anonymous-mode. In anonymous mode /auth isn't mounted and no key exists
  4. Call GET /api/search?q=...&n=5 for passages and put file:"notes.md" or dt>="2026-01-01" inside q to filter. No route is documented
  5. Set KHOJ_TELEMETRY_DISABLE=True before the first start. Tagged releases send the caller's IP with telemetry

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Core or Khoj?

Khoj scores 38.8 (E) on agent readiness against Core's 7.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.

Are Core and Khoj open source?

No open-source release is listed for Core. Khoj is open source (AGPL-3.0-or-later).

Other comparisons with Core or Khoj

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.

Khoj competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds, and LocalGhost's own about page names it as a competitor. 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.

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