head to head · open source
Outline vs silverbullet
Outline has 40,628 GitHub stars, 3,569 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. silverbullet has 6,099 stars, 485 forks, 345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Outline leads on adoption by 566% (40,628 vs 6,099 stars). Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; silverbullet is written in TypeScript under MIT. Outline has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, silverbullet 8%. Outline 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
| Outline | silverbullet | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 6.1K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 485 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Outline if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick silverbullet if
- You want the silverbullet feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and silverbullet fits your workflow better
About Outline
Outline is an open source knowledge base application built with React and Node.js, designed for teams needing a fast, collaborative documentation platform. It runs as a self hosted service or via a hosted option at getoutline.com, and its source code powers the public instance along with all supporting services. The project lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and uses MobX for state management.
read the full Outline overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Outline or silverbullet more popular?
Outline has 40,628 GitHub stars and silverbullet has 6,099. Outline has the larger community by that measure.
Are Outline and silverbullet free?
Both are open source. Outline has no licence declared in this registry, and silverbullet is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Outline and silverbullet?
Outline is written in TypeScript and silverbullet in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Outline or silverbullet?
Choose Outline if you want the larger community (40,628 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose silverbullet if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.