head to head · open source
Docs vs open-knowledge
Docs has 16,965 GitHub stars, 693 forks, 370 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. open-knowledge has 4,781 stars, 327 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Docs leads on adoption by 255% (16,965 vs 4,781 stars). Docs is written in TypeScript under MIT; open-knowledge is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Docs has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, open-knowledge 7%. open-knowledge was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (knowledge-base), 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
| Docs | open-knowledge | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 4.8K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 693 | ⑂ 327 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docs if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick open-knowledge if
- You want the open-knowledge feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and open-knowledge fits your workflow better
About Docs
Chat on Matrix • Documentation • Try Docs • Contact us La Suite Docs: Collaborative Text Editing Docs, where your notes can become knowledge through live collaboration. Docs is an open source collaborative editor that helps teams write, organize, and share knowledge together in real time. What is Docs? Docs is an open source alternative to tools like Notion or Google Docs, focused on: Real time collaboration Clean, structured documents Knowledge organization Data ownership & self hosting Built for public organizations, companies, and open communities. Why use Docs? Writing Rich text & Markdown editing Slash…
About open-knowledge
OpenKnowledge is a beautiful markdown editor with integrations with Claude, Codex, and other harnesses. For knowledge bases, LLM wikis, specs, and notes. Private, local, and free. website • desktop app • web UI + cli • 𝕏 • discord Features Highlights: Full true WYSIWYG so that editing markdown files feels like editing a Google Doc or Notion page. Desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux) and web UI with file navigator, search, tabs, graph wiki link viewer, and more. Integrated side by side AI editing with Claude, Codex, OpenCode, Pi and others . Can be used with any harness/agent via MCP/CLI. Out of the box MCP…
read the full open-knowledge overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docs or open-knowledge more popular?
Docs has 16,965 GitHub stars and open-knowledge has 4,781. Docs has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docs and open-knowledge free?
Both are open source. Docs is licensed under MIT and open-knowledge under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docs and open-knowledge?
Docs is written in TypeScript and open-knowledge in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Docs or open-knowledge?
Choose Docs if you want the larger community (16,965 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose open-knowledge if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.