head to head · open source
Outline vs Tolaria
Outline has 40,590 GitHub stars, 3,562 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tolaria has 19,807 stars, 1,381 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Outline leads on adoption by 105% (40,590 vs 19,807 stars). Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Tolaria is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Outline has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Tolaria 7%. Tolaria 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
| Outline | Tolaria | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 20K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Outline if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Tolaria if
- You want the Tolaria feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Tolaria fits your workflow better
About Outline
Outline is an open source knowledge base application built with React and Node.js, designed for teams needing a fast, collaborative documentation platform. It runs as a self hosted service or via a hosted option at getoutline.com, and its source code powers the public instance along with all supporting services. The project lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and uses MobX for state management.
read the full Outline overview →
About Tolaria
Tolaria is an open source desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux, written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It manages markdown knowledge bases as local files, with each vault stored as a Git repository. The project lives in the personal knowledge management ecosystem as a local first, Git native tool for second brains, company documentation used as AI context, and assistant memory or procedures.
read the full Tolaria overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Outline or Tolaria more popular?
Outline has 40,590 GitHub stars and Tolaria has 19,807. Outline has the larger community by that measure.
Are Outline and Tolaria free?
Both are open source. Outline has no licence declared in this registry, and Tolaria is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Outline and Tolaria?
Outline is written in TypeScript and Tolaria 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, Outline or Tolaria?
Choose Outline if you want the larger community (40,590 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Tolaria if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.