head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs Outline
Open-Notebook has 41,377 GitHub stars, 4,762 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Outline has 41,145 stars, 3,650 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 1% (41,377 vs 41,145 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Open-Notebook has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Outline 9%. 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
| Open-Notebook | Outline | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 41K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 3.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open-Notebook if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Outline if
- You want the Outline feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Outline 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 Outline
A fast, collaborative, knowledge base for your team built using React and Node.js. Try out Outline using our hosted version at www.getoutline.com . This is the source code that runs Outline and all the associated services. If you want to use Outline then you don't need to run this code, A hosted version of the app is offered at getoutline.com. You can also find documentation on using Outline in our guide. If you'd like to run your own copy of Outline or contribute to development then this is the place for you. Installation Please see the documentation for running your own copy of Outline in a production…
read the full Outline overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or Outline more popular?
Open-Notebook has 41,377 GitHub stars and Outline has 41,145. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and Outline free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT, and Outline has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and Outline?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and Outline 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, Open-Notebook or Outline?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (41,377 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Outline if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.