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Kotaemon vs Open Notebook: catalog facts
Kotaemon	Open Notebook
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source under the MIT license.
Web, Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Chat with your own documents through a web interface Works with local or hosted language models	Privacy-focused self-hosted alternative to a well-known proprietary tool MIT licensed with an active Discord community
Needs a server or local setup rather than a simple installer Answer quality depends on the model you connect	Local processing still depends on which model provider is configured Smaller community than the proprietary product it alternatives
Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Web application
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.