head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs fsnotes
Open-Notebook has 41,535 GitHub stars, 4,772 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fsnotes has 7,562 stars, 588 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 449% (41,535 vs 7,562 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; fsnotes is written in Swift under MIT. Open-Notebook has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, fsnotes 8%. Open-Notebook was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (note-taking, notebook, notes-app), 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-Notebook | fsnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 42K | ★ 7.6K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 588 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open-Notebook if
- You weight community size — 42K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick fsnotes if
- You want the fsnotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and fsnotes fits your workflow better
About Open-Notebook
[![Forks][forks shield]][forks url] [![Stargazers][stars shield]][stars url] [![Issues][issues shield]][issues url] [![MIT License][license shield]][license url] Open Notebook An open source, privacy focused alternative to Google's Notebook LM! Join our Discord server for help, to share workflow ideas, and suggest features! Checkout our website » Follow @lfnovo on X for updates 📚 Get Started · 📖 User Guide · ✨ Features · 🚀 Deploy Deutsch Español français 日本語 한국어 Português Русский 中文 A private, multi model, 100% local, full featured alternative to Notebook LM In a world dominated by Artificial Intelligence…
read the full Open-Notebook overview →
About fsnotes
FSNotes 简体中文 · 繁體中文 Own your notes. Find them instantly. FSNotes is a fast, native notes app for macOS and iOS. It gives you a focused writing experience while keeping every note in portable Markdown or plain text files—not a proprietary database. Why choose FSNotes No lock in. Open and edit your notes with any compatible app, now or years from now. Fast at any scale. Search and navigate smoothly across collections of 10,000+ notes. Built around your workflow. Use multiple folders, external editors, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and optional Git backups. More than basic Markdown. Connect ideas with tags and [[links]]…
read the full fsnotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or fsnotes more popular?
Open-Notebook has 41,535 GitHub stars and fsnotes has 7,562. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and fsnotes free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT and fsnotes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and fsnotes?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and fsnotes in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Open-Notebook or fsnotes?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (41,535 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose fsnotes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.