head to head · open source
Logseq vs Zotero
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars, 2,866 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Zotero has 15,838 stars, 1,173 forks, 1,600 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Logseq leads on adoption by 187% (45,460 vs 15,838 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; Zotero is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Zotero 7%. Zotero 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 | Zotero | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 16K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Clojure | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 Zotero if
- You want the Zotero feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Zotero 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 Zotero
Zotero ====== Zotero is a free, easy to use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Please post feature requests or bug reports to the Zotero Forums. If you're having trouble with Zotero, see Getting Help. For more information on how to use this source code, see the Zotero documentation.
read the full Zotero overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or Zotero more popular?
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars and Zotero has 15,838. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and Zotero free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Zotero has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Logseq and Zotero?
Logseq is written in Clojure and Zotero in JavaScript. 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 Zotero?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (45,460 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Zotero if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.