Platform comparison
Xiajiao (虾饺) and other AI platforms are not the same category. Here is a balanced comparison to help you choose.
One-line positioning
| Platform | One-line positioning |
|---|---|
| Xiajiao (虾饺) | AI Agent team collaboration platform — Agents are your colleagues |
| Dify | AI application platform — Build user-facing AI apps |
| Coze | Bot builder — Build and publish AI bots |
| FastGPT | AI knowledge-base Q&A — Document-driven AI apps |
| ChatGPT Team | AI chat — Team edition of ChatGPT |
When to choose Xiajiao (虾饺)?
✅ Choose Xiajiao (虾饺) when you:
- Want an AI team for yourself, not for end customers
- Dislike Docker Compose and PostgreSQL
- Want
npm startand you are running - Need Agents to collaborate with each other
- Care about fully private data
- Want maximum capability with minimal dependencies
- Are a Node.js developer and may fork for customization
❌ Do not choose Xiajiao (虾饺) when you:
- Need to build user-facing AI applications
- Need a visual workflow canvas (drag-and-drop)
- Need a 100+ plugin ecosystem
- Need enterprise multi-tenancy and SSO
- Need a mobile app (not supported yet)
Detailed comparison
Deployment and architecture
| Xiajiao (虾饺) | Dify | Coze | FastGPT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start command | npm start | docker compose up | N/A (SaaS) | docker compose up |
| External dependencies | 0 | PostgreSQL + Redis + Sandbox | — | MongoDB + PostgreSQL + OneAPI |
| npm/pip dependencies | 6 | 200+ Python | — | 100+ |
| Install | npm install (6 packages) | Multi-service Docker | No install | Multi-service Docker |
| Language | JavaScript | Python | Closed source | TypeScript |
| Database | SQLite (built-in) | PostgreSQL | Cloud | MongoDB + PostgreSQL |
| Frontend | Vanilla JS (zero build) | React | — | Next.js |
| Resource needs | Low (single process) | Higher (multi-service) | — | Higher (multi-service) |
Core features
| Xiajiao (虾饺) | Dify | Coze | FastGPT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Agent group chat | ✅ IM-style @mention | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Agent-to-Agent collaboration | ✅ Collaboration chain + call_agent | Workflow orchestration | Bot-to-bot calls | ❌ |
| @mention routing | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Visual panel | ✅ Collaboration-chain status | ✅ Workflow canvas | ✅ | ✅ |
| Persistent memory | ✅ Three memory types | ❌ | Variables | ❌ |
| RAG knowledge base | ✅ BM25 + vectors + LLM rerank | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tool calling | ✅ 7 built-in + HTTP tools + JS + MCP | ✅ Custom | ✅ 100+ plugins | ✅ |
| Workflow canvas | ❌ (collaboration chain instead) | ✅ Drag-and-drop | ✅ | ✅ |
| SOUL.md persona | ✅ Markdown file | System prompt | Persona config | System prompt |
| Multiple models | ✅ Any OpenAI-compatible API | ✅ | Limited | ✅ via OneAPI |
| Scheduled tasks | ✅ Cron | External trigger needed | ✅ | External trigger needed |
| Channel integrations | ✅ Feishu / DingTalk / WeCom / Telegram | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Data and security
| Xiajiao (虾饺) | Dify | Coze | FastGPT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data location | Your machine | Your machine (self-hosted) | Vendor cloud | Your machine |
| Fully offline | ✅ (with Ollama) | ❌ needs external services | ❌ | ❌ |
| Open source | ✅ MIT | ✅ Apache 2.0 | ❌ | ✅ Apache 2.0 |
| Code size | ~20k lines (frontend + backend) | ~50k lines | N/A | ~30k lines |
| Auditability | ✅ Clear structure | ⚠️ Team effort | ❌ | ⚠️ Team effort |
Developer experience
| Xiajiao (虾饺) | Dify | Coze | FastGPT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to first success | 5 minutes | 30 minutes | 10 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Fork and customize | Easy (JS, 6 deps) | Medium (Python, complex) | Not possible | Medium (TS, complex) |
| Add custom tools | HTTP tools (zero-code) / JS drop-in / MCP | API + config | Plugin development | API + config |
| Customize Agents | Edit .md files | Web UI | Web UI | Web UI |
| Tests | 53 unit tests | ✅ | N/A | ✅ |
Scenario recommendations
“I want an AI team for myself”
Recommendation: Xiajiao (虾饺)
Reason: IM-style interaction is intuitive; Agents can collaborate; npm start and go.
“I want to build a customer-facing AI app”
Recommendation: Dify
Reason: Strong workflow, API publishing, multi-tenancy. Xiajiao (虾饺) is not designed for this.
“I want a quick knowledge-base Q&A bot”
Recommendation: FastGPT or Dify
Reason: Mature RAG + workflow + publishing. Xiajiao (虾饺) RAG is oriented more toward personal use.
“I do not want to self-host”
Recommendation: Coze or ChatGPT Team
Reason: SaaS, no ops. Xiajiao (虾饺), Dify, and FastGPT imply running your own server.
“I want fully offline and fully private”
Recommendation: Xiajiao (虾饺) + Ollama
Reason: Xiajiao (虾饺) + Ollama can run with zero external connections. Other stacks still depend on PostgreSQL, Redis, etc.
“I am a Node.js developer and want to learn or contribute”
Recommendation: Xiajiao (虾饺)
Reason: Six dependencies, clear structure, clear modules.
Cost comparison
Deployment cost
| Platform | Minimum hardware | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Xiajiao (虾饺) | Modest (single process + SQLite) | No external services, small footprint |
| Dify | Higher (PostgreSQL + Redis) | Multi-service |
| FastGPT | Higher (MongoDB + PostgreSQL) | Multi-service |
| Coze | N/A | SaaS, no server cost |
The learning curve for Xiajiao (虾饺) is gentle because the core interaction is “chat in IM” — if you can use a messenger, you can use Xiajiao (虾饺).
In fairness
What Xiajiao (虾饺) does not have:
- Drag-and-drop workflow canvas
- 100+ plugin ecosystem
- Enterprise multi-tenancy and SSO
- Full API publishing workflow
- Mobile app
- Massive concurrency (single-process SQLite)
Some of these are on the roadmap but are not the core direction. The core of Xiajiao (虾饺) is: minimal dependencies, IM-style multi-Agent team collaboration.
Migrating to Xiajiao (虾饺)
From ChatGPT
- Install Xiajiao (虾饺) (three commands)
- Add your OpenAI API key in model settings
- Create custom Agents and move your Custom Instructions into
SOUL.md - Enjoy multi-Agent collaboration and persistent memory
From Dify
- Export System Prompts from Dify → convert to
SOUL.md - Export knowledge-base documents → upload to Xiajiao (虾饺) RAG
- Workflows → Xiajiao (虾饺) collaboration chains (linear) or manual @mention
Using together
Xiajiao (虾饺) does not conflict with other platforms:
- Xiajiao (虾饺) for day-to-day AI teamwork (for you)
- Dify for customer-facing AI apps
- Coze for bots on social platforms
Decision tree
Do you need AI capabilities?
├── For users/customers → Dify / FastGPT (end-user AI apps)
└── For yourself / internal team
├── Need drag-and-drop workflow canvas? → Dify
├── Need minimal deploy + multi-Agent collaboration? → Xiajiao (虾饺)
├── Need social-platform bots? → Coze
└── Need fully offline? → Xiajiao (虾饺) + OllamaRelated docs
- Quick start — Try Xiajiao (虾饺)
- Security and privacy — Data safety details
- Architecture — Implementation
- Recipes — Concrete scenarios
- Glossary — Terminology