Both Octopus and Greptile build on RAG to give LLMs deep codebase context. They differ in product focus, licensing, and deployment. This page lays out the differences so you can pick the right tool.
| Feature | Octopus | Greptile |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub support | ||
| Bitbucket support | ||
| GitLab support | Planned | |
| Primary product focus | Automated PR review + codebase chat | Codebase intelligence + PR review |
| Codebase context approach | RAG (pre-indexed embeddings + vector search) | RAG (pre-indexed embeddings + vector search) |
| Language coverage | Language-agnostic (LLM-based) | Language-agnostic (LLM-based) |
| Standalone codebase chat / Q&A | ||
| Codebase Q&A API for developers | ||
| Inline PR comments | ||
| Severity-rated findings | Critical, Major, Minor, Suggestion, Tip | Review comments |
| Open source | MIT licensed | Proprietary SaaS |
| Self-hosting option | Enterprise plans | |
| Bring your own LLM API keys | Enterprise plans | |
| Pricing model | Usage-based credits | Per-developer subscription |
| Free tier | Free credits + free self-host | Free trial |
Yes. Both tools install via your Git provider and configure independently. Running them in parallel for a few pull requests is a common way to see which review style fits your team.
The foundation is similar: both use RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) with pre-indexed vector embeddings to give the LLM relevant codebase context during review and chat. Where they differ is positioning, deployment, and licensing rather than core architecture.
Yes. Octopus is MIT-licensed and free to self-host on your own infrastructure. Greptile is a proprietary SaaS. If audit, customization, or running fully on-prem matters for your team, Octopus is the only option of the two.
Greptile started with codebase intelligence and Q&A as its flagship experience, and that focus shows in its API and chat product. Octopus offers chat too, but automated PR review with severity-rated findings is the primary product. Pick based on which use case you care about most.
Octopus is credit-based and usage-only, so you pay for what the AI actually reviews. You can also bring your own Claude or OpenAI API key and pay the LLM provider directly. Self-hosted Octopus is free. See the pricing page for current rates.
Free credits to start, open source, and self-hostable. No credit card required.