> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mergewatch.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is MergeWatch?

> Open-source AI code review. Self-host on any cloud or use our managed SaaS.

MergeWatch is an open-source GitHub App that reviews pull requests using a multi-agent AI pipeline. Self-host it anywhere with Docker and Postgres, or let MergeWatch run it for you as a managed SaaS. You choose the LLM. There is no per-seat pricing. The project is licensed under AGPL v3.

## How it compares

|                        | **MergeWatch**                              | **Greptile**                             | **CodeRabbit**                                        |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| **Source**             | Open source (AGPL v3)                       | Closed source                            | Closed source                                         |
| **Hosting**            | Self-hosted (Docker, any cloud) or SaaS     | Enterprise self-host in AWS              | Enterprise self-host only (500-seat minimum)          |
| **Pricing**            | No per-seat pricing — pay your LLM provider | $30/seat/month + $1 per review over 50   | $24/seat/month Pro, $48/seat/month Pro Plus (annual)  |
| **Review approach**    | Multi-agent parallel pipeline               | Full-codebase graph + multi-hop analysis | AI review + 40+ linter integrations                   |
| **Model control**      | You choose the LLM provider and model       | Bring-your-own-LLM (self-hosted)         | Vendor-controlled (SaaS); configurable on self-hosted |
| **Minimum commitment** | None                                        | None stated                              | 500 seats for self-hosting                            |

<Note>
  Competitor pricing and features were last verified in April 2026. Visit each vendor's website for current information. For a full breakdown across eight tools, see [Comparisons](/comparisons/overview).
</Note>

## Key differentiators

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="No per-seat pricing" icon="users">
    Install on your entire org. Costs scale with LLM usage, not headcount. A 200-person team pays the same platform cost as a 5-person team.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your infrastructure, your data" icon="shield-halved">
    Self-host MergeWatch with Docker on any cloud or bare metal. Your code stays on your servers. You see every log. MergeWatch (the company) never sees your code.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AGPL v3 — genuinely open source" icon="code-branch">
    Read the source, audit it, fork it, contribute back. No open-core bait-and-switch. The AGPL v3 license means improvements must be shared, which keeps the project honest.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Multi-agent parallel review pipeline" icon="diagram-project">
    Eight specialized agents — security, bugs, style, error handling, test coverage, comment accuracy, summary, and diagram — run in parallel. An orchestrator agent deduplicates overlapping findings and ranks them by severity before posting to GitHub.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## The review pipeline at a glance

<Note>
  Each agent is a separate LLM invocation running in parallel via `Promise.all()`. The orchestrator runs after all agents complete.
</Note>

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
    PR["PR opened"] --> WH["WebhookHandler"]
    WH -->|async invoke| RA["ReviewAgent"]
    RA --> SEC["Security"]
    RA --> BUG["Bug detection"]
    RA --> STY["Style"]
    RA --> ERR["Error handling"]
    RA --> TST["Test coverage"]
    RA --> CMT["Comment accuracy"]
    RA --> SUM["Summary"]
    RA --> DIA["Diagram"]
    SEC --> ORC["Orchestrator"]
    BUG --> ORC
    STY --> ORC
    ERR --> ORC
    TST --> ORC
    CMT --> ORC
    SUM --> ORC
    DIA --> ORC
    ORC --> GH["GitHub comments"]
```

## Deployment models

| Model            | Who runs it? | Data stays where?            | Setup               |
| ---------------- | ------------ | ---------------------------- | ------------------- |
| **Self-Hosted**  | You          | Your infrastructure          | `docker-compose up` |
| **Managed SaaS** | MergeWatch   | MergeWatch AWS + your GitHub | GitHub App install  |

## Infrastructure

### Self-Hosted Stack

MergeWatch self-hosted runs as three Docker containers from a single `docker-compose.yml`:

* **Express server** — port **3000**, receives GitHub webhooks and runs the review pipeline
* **Next.js dashboard** — port **3001**, browser UI for reviews, repos, and settings
* **PostgreSQL 16** — review state, repo config, installation data
* **Your LLM provider** — Anthropic (default), LiteLLM (100+ providers), Amazon Bedrock, or Ollama

No AWS account required (unless you choose Bedrock as your LLM provider).

### SaaS Stack

The managed SaaS runs on a serverless stack in MergeWatch's AWS account:

* **AWS Lambda** — WebhookHandler (512 MB / 30 s) and ReviewAgent (1024 MB / 300 s)
* **Amazon DynamoDB** — review state, repo config, user data
* **API Gateway** — GitHub webhook receiver
* **Amazon Bedrock** — Claude Sonnet (`us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0`)

Configuration lives in a `.mergewatch.yml` file at the root of each repository. The [dashboard](/dashboard/overview) provides a UI for monitoring reviews, managing repos, and adjusting settings.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Full comparisons" icon="scale-balanced" href="/comparisons/overview">
    Side-by-side breakdown of MergeWatch against CodeRabbit, Greptile, GitHub Copilot code review, OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, Cursor BugBot, and Qodo Merge — sourced from each vendor's own docs.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Feature matrix" icon="list-check" href="/comparisons/feature-matrix">
    Checkmark grid across \~25 features — licensing, deployment, LLM flexibility, review pipeline, triggers, and pricing.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/overview/quickstart">
    Install MergeWatch and get your first review in under 10 minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How it works" icon="gears" href="/overview/how-it-works">
    Detailed walkthrough of the review pipeline, agent architecture, and orchestration.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>