head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs SurfSense
Open-Notebook has 41,377 GitHub stars, 4,762 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. SurfSense has 16,717 stars, 1,597 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 148% (41,377 vs 16,717 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; SurfSense is written in Python under Apache-2.0. 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.
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Side by side
| Open-Notebook | SurfSense | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 SurfSense if
- You want the SurfSense feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and SurfSense 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 SurfSense
English Español Português हिन्दी 简体中文 SurfSense: The Open Source NotebookLM Alternative for Open Web Research SurfSense is the open source NotebookLM alternative for AI agents , an open web research platform with live data connectors. Your agents research the live web with structured data from Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, Google Maps, Google Search, Indeed, and any page on the open web , through one REST API or MCP server . Scheduled and event triggered agents turn what they find into briefs and alerts, and a built in knowledge base keeps every finding searchable with citations. [!NOTE]…
read the full SurfSense overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or SurfSense more popular?
Open-Notebook has 41,377 GitHub stars and SurfSense has 16,717. 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 under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
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 (41,377 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose SurfSense if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.