head to head · open source
Docmost vs Zotero
Docmost has 21,710 GitHub stars, 1,567 forks, 326 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zotero has 15,308 stars, 1,120 forks, 1,600 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Docmost leads on adoption by 42% (21,710 vs 15,308 stars). Docmost is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Zotero is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Docmost has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Zotero 7%. 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
| Docmost | Zotero | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 15K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docmost if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Zotero if
- You want the Zotero feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Zotero fits your workflow better
About Docmost
Docmost is an open source collaborative wiki and documentation software written in TypeScript and licensed under the AGPL 3.0 license. It positions itself as an open alternative to Atlassian Confluence and Notion, and its tagline describes it as a self hosted wiki with AI, compliance, and real time editing. The project lives in the knowledge management and note taking ecosystem, where teams manage documentation and knowledge base content.
read the full Docmost overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docmost or Zotero more popular?
Docmost has 21,710 GitHub stars and Zotero has 15,308. Docmost has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docmost and Zotero free?
Both are open source. Docmost is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Zotero has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Docmost and Zotero?
Docmost is written in TypeScript and Zotero in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Docmost or Zotero?
Choose Docmost if you want the larger community (21,710 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Zotero if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.