# 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. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-core-vs-khoj.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

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

- 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
- Khoj: grade E, 38.8/100, rank #433 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/khoj.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/khoj.json

## 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.

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

| Category | Weight | Core | Khoj | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 5 | 65 | Khoj +60 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 7 | 34 | Khoj +27 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 4 | 46 | Khoj +42 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 6 | 29 | Khoj +23 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 60 | Khoj +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 3 | 19 | Khoj +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 64 | Khoj +19 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -7 | |
| **Total** | | **7.3 · F** | **38.8 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Core | Khoj |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model platform | Model platform |
| Vendor | Ghost (ZMJ, Inc.) | Khoj Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | 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 | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | none | 2026-03-26 |
| Popularity | none | 38k stars |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (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).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Core or Khoj

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