head to head · open source
mkdocs-material vs nb
mkdocs-material has 27,466 GitHub stars, 4,148 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. nb has 8,405 stars, 254 forks, 153 open issues and last shipped 25 days ago. mkdocs-material leads on adoption by 227% (27,466 vs 8,405 stars). mkdocs-material is written in Python under MIT; nb is written in Shell under AGPL-3.0. mkdocs-material has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, nb 3%. mkdocs-material 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
| mkdocs-material | nb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 27K | ★ 8.4K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-08-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.1K | ⑂ 254 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick mkdocs-material if
- You weight community size — 27K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nb if
- You want the nb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and nb fits your workflow better
About mkdocs-material
Material for MkDocs is a documentation framework built on top of MkDocs, the static site generator for project documentation. It lives in the Python ecosystem and is distributed as a theme plus an accompanying set of plugins, so authors write documentation in Markdown and MkDocs builds it into a static site that the theme renders. The project is licensed under MIT, has existed for eleven years, and is maintained as an open source project with more than 27,000 stars and over 4,000 forks on GitHub.
read the full mkdocs-material overview →
About nb
nb is a command line and local web note taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application distributed as a single portable shell script, aimed at people who want plain text notes, Git backed history, and local search without a hosted service.
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Frequently asked questions
Is mkdocs-material or nb more popular?
mkdocs-material has 27,466 GitHub stars and nb has 8,405. mkdocs-material has the larger community by that measure.
Are mkdocs-material and nb free?
Both are open source. mkdocs-material is licensed under MIT and nb under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mkdocs-material and nb?
mkdocs-material is written in Python and nb in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, mkdocs-material or nb?
Choose mkdocs-material if you want the larger community (27,466 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nb if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.