head to head · open source
SurfSense vs obsidian-mind
SurfSense has 16,770 GitHub stars, 1,598 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. obsidian-mind has 5,486 stars, 611 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 19 days ago. SurfSense leads on adoption by 206% (16,770 vs 5,486 stars). SurfSense is written in Python under Apache-2.0; obsidian-mind is written in TypeScript under MIT. SurfSense has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, obsidian-mind 11%. 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 | obsidian-mind | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 5.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 611 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SurfSense if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick obsidian-mind if
- You want the obsidian-mind feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and obsidian-mind fits your workflow better
About SurfSense
English Español Português हिन्दी 简体中文 SurfSense: The Open Source NotebookLM Alternative for Open Web Research SurfSense is the open source NotebookLM alternative for AI agents , an open web research platform with live data connectors. Your agents research the live web with structured data from Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, Google Maps, Google Search, Indeed, and any page on the open web , through one REST API or MCP server . Scheduled and event triggered agents turn what they find into briefs and alerts, and a built in knowledge base keeps every finding searchable with citations. [!NOTE]…
read the full SurfSense overview →
About obsidian-mind
🌐 English 日本語 中文 한국어 Obsidian Mind An Obsidian vault that gives AI coding agents persistent memory. Built for Claude Code, with working hooks for Codex CLI and Gemini CLI. Start a session, talk about your day, and the agent handles the rest — notes, links, indexes, performance tracking. Every conversation builds on the last. 🔴 The Problem AI coding agents are powerful, but they forget. Every session starts from zero — no context on your goals, your team, your patterns, your wins. You re explain the same things. You lose decisions made three conversations ago. The knowledge never compounds. 🟢 The Solution Give…
read the full obsidian-mind overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SurfSense or obsidian-mind more popular?
SurfSense has 16,770 GitHub stars and obsidian-mind has 5,486. SurfSense has the larger community by that measure.
Are SurfSense and obsidian-mind free?
Both are open source. SurfSense is licensed under Apache-2.0 and obsidian-mind under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SurfSense and obsidian-mind?
SurfSense is written in Python and obsidian-mind 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, SurfSense or obsidian-mind?
Choose SurfSense if you want the larger community (16,770 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose obsidian-mind if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.