head to head · open source
Open-Notebook vs TidGi-Desktop
Open-Notebook has 39,222 GitHub stars, 4,548 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. TidGi-Desktop has 2,003 stars, 116 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open-Notebook leads on adoption by 1,858% (39,222 vs 2,003 stars). Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript under MIT; TidGi-Desktop is written in TypeScript under MPL-2.0. Open-Notebook has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, TidGi-Desktop 6%. TidGi-Desktop was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (note-taking, notebook), 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.
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Side by side
| Open-Notebook | TidGi-Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.5K | ⑂ 116 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Open-Notebook if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick TidGi-Desktop if
- You want the TidGi-Desktop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and TidGi-Desktop fits your workflow better
About Open-Notebook
Open Notebook is an open source, privacy focused research notebook that replicates and extends Google’s Notebook LM functionality. It runs locally or self hosted, letting users manage AI powered research workflows without surrendering data to cloud providers. Built with TypeScript, Next.js, React, SurrealDB, and LangChain, it targets researchers, students, and knowledge workers seeking control over their data and tools.
read the full Open-Notebook overview →
About TidGi-Desktop
TidGi Desktop is a free, MPL 2.0 licensed, cross platform desktop note taking and knowledge management application built on TiddlyWiki and running as an Electron app, aimed at people who want their notes stored locally as files they own, backed up to Git automatically, and optionally published as a blog.
read the full TidGi-Desktop overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Open-Notebook or TidGi-Desktop more popular?
Open-Notebook has 39,222 GitHub stars and TidGi-Desktop has 2,003. Open-Notebook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Open-Notebook and TidGi-Desktop free?
Both are open source. Open-Notebook is licensed under MIT and TidGi-Desktop under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Open-Notebook and TidGi-Desktop?
Open-Notebook is written in TypeScript and TidGi-Desktop 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, Open-Notebook or TidGi-Desktop?
Choose Open-Notebook if you want the larger community (39,222 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose TidGi-Desktop if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.