open-notebookvssurfsense
Two self-hosted NotebookLM alternatives, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| open-notebook | surfsense | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #5 of 42 in Knowledge Management | #5 of 7 in RAG |
| GitHub stars | 40 670 | 16 667 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 236 | +414 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 16 | 25 |
| Latest release | v1.15.0 · 4 Oct 2026 | v2.2.5 · 26 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Python |
Which one should you pick?
open-notebook scores 80/100 against 71/100 for surfsense, so it is the safer default.
surfsense ships more often: 25 stable releases in the past year, against 16 for open-notebook.
open-notebook is growing faster right now (+1 236 stars in 30 days).
open-notebook details →surfsense details → All NotebookLM alternatives →
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