head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs Zotero
Open-Notebook has 41,377 GitHub stars, 4,762 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Zotero has 15,838 stars, 1,173 forks, 1,600 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 161% (41,377 vs 15,838 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; Zotero is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Open-Notebook has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Zotero 7%. Zotero 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 | Zotero | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 16K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 Zotero if
- You want the Zotero feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Zotero 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 Zotero
Zotero ====== Zotero is a free, easy to use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Please post feature requests or bug reports to the Zotero Forums. If you're having trouble with Zotero, see Getting Help. For more information on how to use this source code, see the Zotero documentation.
read the full Zotero overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or Zotero more popular?
Open-Notebook has 41,377 GitHub stars and Zotero has 15,838. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and Zotero free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT, and Zotero has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and Zotero?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and Zotero in JavaScript. 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 Zotero?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (41,377 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Zotero if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.