head to head · open source
SurfSense vs vnote
SurfSense has 16,770 GitHub stars, 1,598 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vnote has 13,030 stars, 1,295 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SurfSense leads on adoption by 29% (16,770 vs 13,030 stars). SurfSense is written in Python under Apache-2.0; vnote is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0. SurfSense has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, vnote 10%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| SurfSense | vnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 vnote if
- You want the vnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and vnote 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 vnote
VNote 简体中文 Project on Gitee A pleasant note taking platform. For more information, please visit VNote's Home Page . Description VNote is a Qt based, free and open source note taking application, focusing on Markdown now. VNote is designed to provide a pleasant note taking platform with excellent editing experience. VNote is NOT just a simple editor for Markdown. By providing notes management, VNote makes taking notes in Markdown simpler. In the future, VNote will support more formats besides Markdown. Utilizing Qt, VNote could run on Linux , Windows , and macOS . Downloads Continuous builds on master branch…
read the full vnote 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 SurfSense or vnote more popular?
SurfSense has 16,770 GitHub stars and vnote has 13,030. SurfSense has the larger community by that measure.
Are SurfSense and vnote free?
Both are open source. SurfSense is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vnote under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SurfSense and vnote?
SurfSense is written in Python and vnote 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, SurfSense or vnote?
Choose SurfSense if you want the larger community (16,770 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vnote if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.