head to head · open source
Outline vs Open-Notebook
Outline has 40,590 GitHub stars, 3,562 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook has 39,087 stars, 4,527 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Outline leads on adoption by 4% (40,590 vs 39,087 stars). Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT. Outline has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Open-Notebook 12%. Outline was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Outline | Open-Notebook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 39K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 4.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Outline if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Open-Notebook if
- You want the Open-Notebook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Open-Notebook fits your workflow better
About Outline
Outline is an open source knowledge base application built with React and Node.js, designed for teams needing a fast, collaborative documentation platform. It runs as a self hosted service or via a hosted option at getoutline.com, and its source code powers the public instance along with all supporting services. The project lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and uses MobX for state management.
read the full Outline overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Outline or Open-Notebook more popular?
Outline has 40,590 GitHub stars and Open-Notebook has 39,087. Outline has the larger community by that measure.
Are Outline and Open-Notebook free?
Both are open source. Outline has no licence declared in this registry, and Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Outline and Open-Notebook?
Outline is written in TypeScript and Open-Notebook 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, Outline or Open-Notebook?
Choose Outline if you want the larger community (40,590 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Open-Notebook if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.