head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs mindforger
Open-Notebook has 39,222 GitHub stars, 4,548 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. mindforger has 2,719 stars, 173 forks, 625 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 1,343% (39,222 vs 2,719 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; mindforger is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. Open-Notebook has attracted 12% 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 (notebook), 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 | mindforger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 173 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open-Notebook if
- You weight community size — 39K 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 Open-Notebook
Open Notebook is an open source, privacy focused research notebook that replicates and extends Google’s Notebook LM functionality. It runs locally or self hosted, letting users manage AI powered research workflows without surrendering data to cloud providers. Built with TypeScript, Next.js, React, SurrealDB, and LangChain, it targets researchers, students, and knowledge workers seeking control over their data and tools.
read the full Open-Notebook 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 Open-Notebook or mindforger more popular?
Open-Notebook has 39,222 GitHub stars and mindforger has 2,719. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and mindforger free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT and mindforger under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and mindforger?
Open-Notebook 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, Open-Notebook or mindforger?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (39,222 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mindforger if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.