head to head · open source
obsidian-mind vs mindforger
obsidian-mind has 4,653 GitHub stars, 532 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. mindforger has 2,719 stars, 173 forks, 625 open issues and last shipped yesterday. obsidian-mind leads on adoption by 71% (4,653 vs 2,719 stars). obsidian-mind is written in TypeScript under MIT; mindforger is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. obsidian-mind has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, mindforger 6%. mindforger was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (knowledge-management), 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
| obsidian-mind | mindforger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.7K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 532 | ⑂ 173 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick obsidian-mind if
- You weight community size — 4.7K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mindforger if
- You want the mindforger feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and mindforger fits your workflow better
About obsidian-mind
obsidian mind is a self organizing Obsidian vault template that gives AI coding agents persistent memory, built for developers and knowledge workers who run Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Gemini CLI and want every session to build on the last.
read the full obsidian-mind overview →
About mindforger
MindForger is a free, open source thinking notebook and Markdown editor for people who keep private remarks — ideas, personal plans, gift tips, how tos, dreams, business vision, finance strategy, auto coaching notes — on their own machine and want to find and connect them again instead of scattering them across the file system, cloud, web, and Post it notes.
read the full mindforger overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is obsidian-mind or mindforger more popular?
obsidian-mind has 4,653 GitHub stars and mindforger has 2,719. obsidian-mind has the larger community by that measure.
Are obsidian-mind and mindforger free?
Both are open source. obsidian-mind is licensed under MIT and mindforger under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between obsidian-mind and mindforger?
obsidian-mind is written in TypeScript and mindforger in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, obsidian-mind or mindforger?
Choose obsidian-mind if you want the larger community (4,653 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mindforger if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.