AnythingLLM vs Open Notebook
Short answer
AnythingLLM: All-in-one private chat with your documents, agents and an embeddable widget. Open Notebook: Private, self-hosted alternative to Google NotebookLM with your choice of AI models. Both are in our Knowledge base & RAG category.
Choose AnythingLLM if you want: lighter official minimum (2 GB vs 4 GB RAM), larger community (67.4k vs 40.5k GitHub stars) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
AnythingLLM vs Open Notebook side by side
| AnythingLLM | Open Notebook | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge base & RAG | Knowledge base & RAG |
| What it is | All-in-one private chat with your documents, agents and an embeddable widget. | Private, self-hosted alternative to Google NotebookLM with your choice of AI models. |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| License type | Permissive | Permissive |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license notice. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 67.4k | 40.5k |
| Last commit | Oct 22, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
| Latest release | v1.18.0 | v1.15.0 |
| Minimum hardware | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 5 GB disk | 4 GB RAM |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Not required / not stated | Not required / not stated |
| Est. server cost | from €19.99/mo | from €19.99/mo |
| Deploy method | Docker | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 2 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | On by default | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | No (documented) | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not documented | Not supported (OIDC not supported · SAML not supported · LDAP not supported) |
| Audit log | Not documented | No |
| RBAC | Not documented | No |
| Details | Full AnythingLLM guide → | Full Open Notebook guide → |
Key differences
- Official hardware: AnythingLLM: minimum 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 5 GB disk. Open Notebook: minimum 4 GB RAM.
- Deploy: AnythingLLM: Docker · single container. Open Notebook: Docker Compose · multi-container stack.
- GitHub stars: AnythingLLM: 67.4k. Open Notebook: 40.5k.
- Last commit: AnythingLLM: Oct 22, 2026. Open Notebook: Oct 5, 2026.
- Latest release: AnythingLLM: v1.18.0 (Oct 13, 2026). Open Notebook: v1.15.0 (Oct 4, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Knowledge base & RAG; License: MIT (Permissive); GPU: not required or not stated; Est. server cost: from €19.99/mo; Status: Active.
AnythingLLM vs Open Notebook: FAQ
AnythingLLM or Open Notebook: which should a small business choose?
Choose AnythingLLM if you want: lighter official minimum (2 GB vs 4 GB RAM), larger community (67.4k vs 40.5k GitHub stars) and simpler deploy (one container vs a multi-container stack).
Which is cheaper to self-host, AnythingLLM or Open Notebook?
AnythingLLM: from €19.99/mo. Open Notebook: from €19.99/mo. Our estimate is the cheapest Hetzner Cloud plan that meets each project's official RAM and vCPU figure; it covers the server only.
How much hardware do AnythingLLM and Open Notebook need?
AnythingLLM: minimum 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 5 GB disk. Open Notebook: minimum 4 GB RAM.
What is the license difference between AnythingLLM and Open Notebook?
AnythingLLM: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the copyright notice. Open Notebook: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license notice. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is AnythingLLM or Open Notebook more actively maintained?
AnythingLLM: Active, last commit Oct 22, 2026. Open Notebook: Active, last commit Oct 5, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 22, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, AnythingLLM or Open Notebook?
AnythingLLM installs via Docker (single container); Open Notebook via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). AnythingLLM lists 2 known gotchas and Open Notebook lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- AnythingLLM self-hosting guide · Open Notebook self-hosting guide
- All AnythingLLM alternatives, ranked
- All Open Notebook alternatives, ranked
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- AnythingLLM vs MaxKB
- AnythingLLM vs Onyx (formerly Danswer)
- AnythingLLM vs Open WebUI
- AnythingLLM vs PrivateGPT
- AnythingLLM vs RAGFlow
- FastGPT vs Open Notebook
- Khoj vs Open Notebook
- MaxKB vs Open Notebook
- Onyx (formerly Danswer) vs Open Notebook
- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- AnythingLLM GitHub repository: github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm
- AnythingLLM documentation, AnythingLLM hardware requirements: docs.anythingllm.com/installation-docker/system-requirements
- AnythingLLM license: github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm/blob/master/LICENSE
- AnythingLLM deploy instructions: github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm/blob/master/docker/HOW_TO_USE_DOCKER.md
- Open Notebook GitHub repository: github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook
- Open Notebook documentation, Open Notebook hardware requirements: github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/1-INSTALLATION/docker-compose.md
- Open Notebook license: github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/LICENSE
- Open Notebook deploy instructions: github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook#step-1-download-docker-composeyml
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-22): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub REST API (stars, commits, releases): docs.github.com/en/rest
Every value is generated from the same verified data as the app pages. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.