head to head · open source
Zotero vs TidGi-Desktop
Zotero has 15,847 GitHub stars, 1,174 forks, 1,600 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. TidGi-Desktop has 2,011 stars, 116 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Zotero leads on adoption by 688% (15,847 vs 2,011 stars). Zotero is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; TidGi-Desktop is written in TypeScript under MPL-2.0. Zotero has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, TidGi-Desktop 6%. Zotero 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
| Zotero | TidGi-Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Custom / other | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 116 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zotero if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- 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 Zotero
Zotero ====== Zotero is a free, easy to use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Please post feature requests or bug reports to the Zotero Forums. If you're having trouble with Zotero, see Getting Help. For more information on how to use this source code, see the Zotero documentation.
read the full Zotero overview →
About TidGi-Desktop
TidGi Customizable personal knowledge base with git as backup manager and blogging platform. Pronounce: Same as Tai Chi /ˌtaɪ ˈtʃiː/ 🇬🇧 English 🇨🇳 简体中文 ShowCases And Demo Demo Demo Online Web Blog Page TiddlyWiki Official Website Screenshot For mac users, since I haven't buy Apple developer key yet, so you have to entrust App to open it, click here to expand details.◀ First of all, you need to drag this App into Applications folder! Otherwise there will be an error. Click "Cancel" ↓ Click "Open" ↓ Click "OK" ↓ Or you could start the Terminal from launchpad, and run the command below, make sure your…
read the full TidGi-Desktop overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zotero or TidGi-Desktop more popular?
Zotero has 15,847 GitHub stars and TidGi-Desktop has 2,011. Zotero has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zotero and TidGi-Desktop free?
Both are open source. Zotero has no licence declared in this registry, and TidGi-Desktop is licensed under MPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Zotero and TidGi-Desktop?
Zotero is written in JavaScript 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, Zotero or TidGi-Desktop?
Choose Zotero if you want the larger community (15,847 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose TidGi-Desktop if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.