Guru vs Cabinet: an honest comparison
Guru keeps knowledge in verified cards in the cloud, surfaced through a browser extension and AI answers. Cabinet keeps your whole knowledge base as files you own, with agents that keep it current and a workspace your team works in. One delivers answers, the other is where the knowledge is authored and owned.
Choose Cabinet if
- You want to own your knowledge as files, not store cards in a vendor's cloud.
- You want agents that keep docs current, not only human verification reminders.
- You want an authoring workspace with live apps and a terminal, not only a card layer in the browser.
Stick with Guru if
- Your main need is verified answers surfaced in a browser extension across support and sales tools.
- You want a managed cloud product with built-in verification workflows and do not need self-hosting.
Open source · self-hosted · bring your own AI
The core difference
Guru verifies cards. Cabinet owns the whole knowledge base.
Guru is a knowledge layer: short, verified cards delivered where your team already works, with a verification cadence to keep them trusted. It lives in the cloud and connects to your tools.
Cabinet is the substrate. Your whole knowledge base lives as files you own, agents draft and refresh them on a schedule, and your team sees the same knowledge base, live apps, and dashboards in one place.
Guru is built to surface answers. Cabinet is built to own and produce the knowledge those answers come from.
Where Cabinet wins
Three things Guru cannot do
Own the source, not just the cards
Guru stores cards in its cloud. Cabinet keeps the whole knowledge base as files on your disk, so the source of truth is yours to grep, git, back up, and self-host.
Agents keep it current
Guru relies on people verifying cards on a cadence. Cabinet agents draft and refresh documents on a schedule, so the knowledge stays current without a manual review queue.
A full workspace, not a browser layer
An editor, live web apps and dashboards, a terminal, and team collaboration sit around your knowledge, instead of a card overlay on top of the tools you already use.
Feature by feature
Cabinet vs Guru, side by side
The features that actually decide this, including the ones where Guru comes out ahead.
| Feature | Cabinet | Guru |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge you own as files | Included | Not included |
| Self-hosted | Included | Not included |
| AI answers over your knowledge | Included | Included |
| Agents that draft and maintain docs | Included | Partial |
| Verification workflows (trust, expiry) | Partial | Included |
| Browser-extension delivery inside other tools | Not included | Included |
| Scheduled routines | Included | Partial |
| Bring your own AI model keys | Included | Not included |
| Visualize web apps and dashboards | Included | Not included |
| Web terminal | Included | Not included |
| Markdown files on disk | Included | Not included |
| Open source (MIT) | Included | Not included |
Being honest
When Guru is the better choice
- Your main need is verified answers delivered inside support, sales, and browser tools.
- You value Guru's verification workflows and do not need to own the underlying files.
- You want a managed cloud product and do not need self-hosting or agents that author docs.
From the field
IllustrativeGuru kept our answers verified, but the knowledge still lived in their cloud as cards. Cabinet gave us the source files we own, and agents that keep them current for us.
Questions
Cabinet vs Guru, answered
Is Cabinet a Guru alternative?
For teams that want to own and author their knowledge as files with agents maintaining it, yes. Guru is the better fit if your priority is verified answers delivered in a browser extension across your tools.
Does Cabinet deliver answers in other tools like Guru's extension?
Guru's in-browser card delivery is its strength. Cabinet's focus is owning the knowledge base itself, with agents that author and refresh it and a workspace your team works in.
Can I self-host Cabinet?
Yes, in your own environment with your own model keys, so sensitive knowledge stays inside your walls.
Is Cabinet open source?
Yes, under the MIT license.
Own your knowledge. Keep your AI. Start free.
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