head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs GitJournal
Open-Notebook has 41,535 GitHub stars, 4,772 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GitJournal has 4,245 stars, 318 forks, 132 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 878% (41,535 vs 4,245 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; GitJournal is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0. Open-Notebook has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, GitJournal 7%. Open-Notebook was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (note-taking, notes-app), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | GitJournal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 42K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-05-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 318 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open-Notebook if
- You weight community size — 42K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick GitJournal if
- You want the GitJournal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and GitJournal fits your workflow better
About Open-Notebook
[![Forks][forks shield]][forks url] [![Stargazers][stars shield]][stars url] [![Issues][issues shield]][issues url] [![MIT License][license shield]][license url] Open Notebook An open source, privacy focused alternative to Google's Notebook LM! Join our Discord server for help, to share workflow ideas, and suggest features! Checkout our website » Follow @lfnovo on X for updates 📚 Get Started · 📖 User Guide · ✨ Features · 🚀 Deploy Deutsch Español français 日本語 한국어 Português Русский 中文 A private, multi model, 100% local, full featured alternative to Notebook LM In a world dominated by Artificial Intelligence…
read the full Open-Notebook overview →
About GitJournal
Mobile first Markdown Notes integrated with Git Summary GitJournal is a note taking app focused on privacy and data portability. It stores all its notes in a standardized Markdown + YAML header format (optional). The notes are stored in a Git Repo of your choice GitHub / Gitlab / Custom provider. This means you can easily self host or host your notes in one of the many Git providers. Screenshots Migrating from Existing Apps Google Keep Day One Classic Narrate Simplenote Contributing Please feel free to open an issue for any bug or feature request. Additionally, you can vote on existing Issues by reacting with a…
read the full GitJournal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or GitJournal more popular?
Open-Notebook has 41,535 GitHub stars and GitJournal has 4,245. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and GitJournal free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT and GitJournal under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and GitJournal?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and GitJournal in Dart. 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 GitJournal?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (41,535 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose GitJournal if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.