head to head · open source
Logseq vs SurfSense
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars, 2,866 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. SurfSense has 16,717 stars, 1,597 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Logseq leads on adoption by 172% (45,460 vs 16,717 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; SurfSense is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, SurfSense 10%. SurfSense 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
| Logseq | SurfSense | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 17K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Clojure | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Logseq if
- You weight community size — 45K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Clojure
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SurfSense if
- You want the SurfSense feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and SurfSense fits your workflow better
About Logseq
Logseq A privacy first, open source platform for knowledge management and collaboration Home Page Blog Documentation Roadmap Table of Contents 🚀 Database Version 🤔 Why Logseq? 👀 How can I use it? 📚 Learn more 🫶 Support Logseq Development 💡 Feature requests 🔌 Plugin API 🌟 Contributing to Logseq 🛠️ Setting Up a Development Environment ✨ Inspiration 🙏 Thank You 🚀 Database Version The Database version (DB version) of Logseq introduces DB graphs. See this page to get an overview of the main features for DB graphs. If you are an existing user, see changes with the DB version. The DB version has its own new…
read the full Logseq overview →
About SurfSense
English Español Português हिन्दी 简体中文 SurfSense: The Open Source NotebookLM Alternative for Open Web Research SurfSense is the open source NotebookLM alternative for AI agents , an open web research platform with live data connectors. Your agents research the live web with structured data from Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, Google Maps, Google Search, Indeed, and any page on the open web , through one REST API or MCP server . Scheduled and event triggered agents turn what they find into briefs and alerts, and a built in knowledge base keeps every finding searchable with citations. [!NOTE]…
read the full SurfSense overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or SurfSense more popular?
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars and SurfSense has 16,717. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and SurfSense free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SurfSense under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and SurfSense?
Logseq is written in Clojure and SurfSense in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Logseq or SurfSense?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (45,460 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose SurfSense if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.