head to head · open source
AnythingLLM vs Open-Notebook
AnythingLLM has 66,155 GitHub stars, 7,348 forks, 311 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook has 39,105 stars, 4,532 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped today. AnythingLLM leads on adoption by 69% (66,155 vs 39,105 stars). AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript under MIT; Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT. AnythingLLM has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Open-Notebook 12%. Open-Notebook was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| AnythingLLM | Open-Notebook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 39K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.3K | ⑂ 4.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AnythingLLM if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Open-Notebook if
- You want the Open-Notebook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Open-Notebook fits your workflow better
About AnythingLLM
AnythingLLM is a local first AI application that enables users to chat with their documents using any large language model (LLM), local or cloud hosted. It runs as a self hosted service—by default in Docker—and provides a complete interface for document ingestion, agent orchestration, multi user access, and workflow automation without requiring external cloud dependencies. The project lives in the local AI and AI interaction ecosystem, targeting users who want full control over their data and model selection.
read the full AnythingLLM overview →
About Open-Notebook
Open Notebook is an open source, privacy focused research notebook that replicates and extends Google’s Notebook LM functionality. It runs locally or self hosted, letting users manage AI powered research workflows without surrendering data to cloud providers. Built with TypeScript, Next.js, React, SurrealDB, and LangChain, it targets researchers, students, and knowledge workers seeking control over their data and tools.
read the full Open-Notebook overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AnythingLLM or Open-Notebook more popular?
AnythingLLM has 66,155 GitHub stars and Open-Notebook has 39,105. AnythingLLM has the larger community by that measure.
Are AnythingLLM and Open-Notebook free?
Both are open source. AnythingLLM is licensed under MIT and Open-Notebook under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AnythingLLM and Open-Notebook?
AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript and Open-Notebook in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AnythingLLM or Open-Notebook?
Choose AnythingLLM if you want the larger community (66,155 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Open-Notebook if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.