head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs QOwnNotes
Open-Notebook has 39,222 GitHub stars, 4,548 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. QOwnNotes has 5,884 stars, 500 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 567% (39,222 vs 5,884 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; QOwnNotes is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. Open-Notebook has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, QOwnNotes 8%. QOwnNotes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (note-taking), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | QOwnNotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 5.9K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 500 |
| 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 QOwnNotes if
- You want the QOwnNotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and QOwnNotes 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 QOwnNotes
QOwnNotes is a GPL 2.0 licensed, C++ plain text notepad and todo list manager with Markdown support for GNU/Linux, macOS and Windows that stores every note as a Markdown file and pairs with Nextcloud or ownCloud so the same notes stay readable on mobile and in the web service.
read the full QOwnNotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or QOwnNotes more popular?
Open-Notebook has 39,222 GitHub stars and QOwnNotes has 5,884. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and QOwnNotes free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT and QOwnNotes under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and QOwnNotes?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and QOwnNotes in C++. 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 QOwnNotes?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (39,222 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose QOwnNotes if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.