head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs Docmost
Open-Notebook has 39,087 GitHub stars, 4,527 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Docmost has 21,710 stars, 1,567 forks, 326 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 80% (39,087 vs 21,710 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; Docmost is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Open-Notebook has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Docmost 7%. Docmost 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
| Open-Notebook | Docmost | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 22K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open-Notebook if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Docmost if
- You want the Docmost feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Docmost fits your workflow better
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 →
About Docmost
Docmost is an open source collaborative wiki and documentation software written in TypeScript and licensed under the AGPL 3.0 license. It positions itself as an open alternative to Atlassian Confluence and Notion, and its tagline describes it as a self hosted wiki with AI, compliance, and real time editing. The project lives in the knowledge management and note taking ecosystem, where teams manage documentation and knowledge base content.
read the full Docmost overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or Docmost more popular?
Open-Notebook has 39,087 GitHub stars and Docmost has 21,710. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and Docmost free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT and Docmost under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and Docmost?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and Docmost 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, Open-Notebook or Docmost?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (39,087 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Docmost if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.