head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs SurfSense
Open-Notebook has 39,087 GitHub stars, 4,527 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. SurfSense has 16,159 stars, 1,537 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 142% (39,087 vs 16,159 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; SurfSense is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence. Open-Notebook has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, SurfSense 10%. SurfSense 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Open-Notebook | SurfSense | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 16K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 SurfSense if
- You want the SurfSense feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and SurfSense 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 SurfSense
SurfSense is an open source NotebookLM alternative and privacy first knowledge base that can work with any AI model chosen by the user. It is a Python productivity and knowledge management project in the agent, RAG, LangChain, LangGraph, FastAPI, Next.js, and Ollama ecosystem. The project presents itself as an open web research platform for AI agents, with live data connectors and a built in knowledge base that keeps findings searchable with citations.
read the full SurfSense overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or SurfSense more popular?
Open-Notebook has 39,087 GitHub stars and SurfSense has 16,159. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and SurfSense free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT, and SurfSense has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and SurfSense?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and SurfSense 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-Notebook or SurfSense?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (39,087 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose SurfSense if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.