head to head · open source
open-knowledge vs obsidian-wiki
open-knowledge has 4,258 GitHub stars, 281 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped yesterday. obsidian-wiki has 3,438 stars, 340 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. open-knowledge leads on adoption by 24% (4,258 vs 3,438 stars). open-knowledge is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; obsidian-wiki is written in Python under MIT. open-knowledge has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, obsidian-wiki 10%. open-knowledge was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (agent-skills, 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
| open-knowledge | obsidian-wiki | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.3K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 281 | ⑂ 340 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick open-knowledge if
- You weight community size — 4.3K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick obsidian-wiki if
- You want the obsidian-wiki feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and obsidian-wiki fits your workflow better
About open-knowledge
OpenKnowledge is a markdown IDE and LLM wiki tool in the Content & Publishing / Documentation & Knowledge Base category. It is written in TypeScript, licensed under GPL 3.0, and listed on GitHub with 4214 stars, 275 forks, and 38 open issues. It is an AI native editor for knowledge bases, LLM wikis, specs, and notes, and it is described as private, local, and free.
read the full open-knowledge overview →
About obsidian-wiki
obsidian wiki is a Python package and agent skill framework for maintaining a personal knowledge base in Obsidian. It lives in the Obsidian, markdown, and AI agent ecosystem, where agents can read and run skills from a shared .skills/ directory. The project presents itself as a digital brain that remembers what a user figures out, connects new material to existing notes, and answers questions from that knowledge.
read the full obsidian-wiki overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-knowledge or obsidian-wiki more popular?
open-knowledge has 4,258 GitHub stars and obsidian-wiki has 3,438. open-knowledge has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-knowledge and obsidian-wiki free?
Both are open source. open-knowledge is licensed under GPL-3.0 and obsidian-wiki under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between open-knowledge and obsidian-wiki?
open-knowledge is written in TypeScript and obsidian-wiki 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, open-knowledge or obsidian-wiki?
Choose open-knowledge if you want the larger community (4,258 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose obsidian-wiki if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.