head to head · open source
SurfSense vs iwe
SurfSense has 16,236 GitHub stars, 1,546 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped today. iwe has 1,715 stars, 88 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. SurfSense leads on adoption by 847% (16,236 vs 1,715 stars). SurfSense is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; iwe is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. SurfSense has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, iwe 5%. 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
| SurfSense | iwe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 88 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SurfSense if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick iwe if
- You want the iwe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and iwe fits your workflow better
About SurfSense
SurfSense is an open source NotebookLM alternative and privacy first knowledge base that can work with any AI model chosen by the user. It is a Python productivity and knowledge management project in the agent, RAG, LangChain, LangGraph, FastAPI, Next.js, and Ollama ecosystem. The project presents itself as an open web research platform for AI agents, with live data connectors and a built in knowledge base that keeps findings searchable with citations.
read the full SurfSense overview →
About iwe
IWE is a local first Rust tool that turns a directory of Markdown files into a knowledge graph, serving the same notes to your editor through a language server and to AI agents through a CLI and MCP server — it is built for anyone who wants database style queries over plain notes they continue to own.
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Frequently asked questions
Is SurfSense or iwe more popular?
SurfSense has 16,236 GitHub stars and iwe has 1,715. SurfSense has the larger community by that measure.
Are SurfSense and iwe free?
Both are open source. SurfSense has no licence declared in this registry, and iwe is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between SurfSense and iwe?
SurfSense is written in Python and iwe in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, SurfSense or iwe?
Choose SurfSense if you want the larger community (16,236 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose iwe if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.