head to head · open source
Memos vs SurfSense
Memos has 63,129 GitHub stars, 4,766 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SurfSense has 16,159 stars, 1,537 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Memos leads on adoption by 291% (63,129 vs 16,159 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; SurfSense is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence. Memos has attracted 8% 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
| Memos | SurfSense | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 16K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Memos if
- You weight community size — 63K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- 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 Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and SurfSense fits your workflow better
About Memos
Memos is an open source, self hosted note taking tool designed for rapid capture of short form content like daily logs, links, code snippets, and microblog style entries. It lives in the Go ecosystem and uses a Markdown native, timeline based interface. Unlike traditional note apps that enforce folders or rigid templates, Memos prioritizes speed and simplicity: users write in Markdown, attach media, and save without selecting titles or locations.
read the full Memos overview →
About SurfSense
SurfSense is an open source NotebookLM alternative and privacy first knowledge base that can work with any AI model chosen by the user. It is a Python productivity and knowledge management project in the agent, RAG, LangChain, LangGraph, FastAPI, Next.js, and Ollama ecosystem. The project presents itself as an open web research platform for AI agents, with live data connectors and a built in knowledge base that keeps findings searchable with citations.
read the full SurfSense overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or SurfSense more popular?
Memos has 63,129 GitHub stars and SurfSense has 16,159. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and SurfSense free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT, and SurfSense has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Memos and SurfSense?
Memos is written in Go 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, Memos or SurfSense?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,129 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose SurfSense if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.