head to head · open source
Zotero vs TidGi-Desktop
Zotero has 15,327 GitHub stars, 1,124 forks, 1,600 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. TidGi-Desktop has 2,003 stars, 116 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zotero leads on adoption by 665% (15,327 vs 2,003 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%. TidGi-Desktop 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 | ★ 15K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Custom / other | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 116 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zotero if
- You weight community size — 15K 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 is a free tool for research sources. It lives in the JavaScript application ecosystem and is listed under Productivity & Utilities / Note Taking & Knowledge Management. The provided GitHub metadata reports 15,272 stars, 1,117 forks, 1,600 open issues, 0 contributors, a repository age of 0 years, and a last push timestamp of 2026 09 14T16:40:51Z. The homepage is https://www.zotero.org, and no topics are listed. The license field is NOASSERTION.
read the full Zotero 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 Zotero or TidGi-Desktop more popular?
Zotero has 15,327 GitHub stars and TidGi-Desktop has 2,003. 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 (15,327 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.