head to head · open source
silverbullet vs mindforger
silverbullet has 6,099 GitHub stars, 485 forks, 345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mindforger has 2,719 stars, 173 forks, 625 open issues and last shipped yesterday. silverbullet leads on adoption by 124% (6,099 vs 2,719 stars). silverbullet is written in TypeScript under MIT; mindforger is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. silverbullet has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, mindforger 6%. silverbullet was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (knowledge-management, markdown), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| silverbullet | mindforger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.1K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 485 | ⑂ 173 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick silverbullet if
- You weight community size — 6.1K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mindforger if
- You want the mindforger 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 mindforger fits your workflow better
About silverbullet
SilverBullet is an open source, self hosted, browser based personal knowledge database that stores notes as Markdown pages and makes them programmable with Space Lua, aimed at individual knowledge workers who want a notes app they can script rather than merely configure.
read the full silverbullet overview →
About mindforger
MindForger is a free, open source thinking notebook and Markdown editor for people who keep private remarks — ideas, personal plans, gift tips, how tos, dreams, business vision, finance strategy, auto coaching notes — on their own machine and want to find and connect them again instead of scattering them across the file system, cloud, web, and Post it notes.
read the full mindforger 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 silverbullet or mindforger more popular?
silverbullet has 6,099 GitHub stars and mindforger has 2,719. silverbullet has the larger community by that measure.
Are silverbullet and mindforger free?
Both are open source. silverbullet is licensed under MIT and mindforger under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between silverbullet and mindforger?
silverbullet is written in TypeScript and mindforger 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, silverbullet or mindforger?
Choose silverbullet if you want the larger community (6,099 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mindforger if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.