--- title: I tried three open-source NotebookLM alternatives, and... description: A hands-on comparison of three open-source NotebookLM alternatives: Open Notebook, SurfSense, and AnythingLLM. Open Notebook offers deep model flexibility and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-three-open-source-notebooklm-alternatives-and-only-one-of-them-is-the-real-deal-24goek0aa twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I tried three open-source NotebookLM alternatives, and only one of them is the real deal | daily.dev og:description: A hands-on comparison of three open-source NotebookLM alternatives: Open Notebook, SurfSense, and AnythingLLM. Open Notebook offers deep model flexibility and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-three-open-source-notebooklm-alternatives-and-only-one-of-them-is-the-real-deal-24goek0aa og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/24gOEK0AA.png og:image:alt: I tried three open-source NotebookLM alternatives, and only one of them is the real deal og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I tried three open-source NotebookLM alternatives, and only one of them is the real deal **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A hands-on comparison of three open-source NotebookLM alternatives: Open Notebook, SurfSense, and AnythingLLM. Open Notebook offers deep model flexibility and self-hosting via Docker but requires significant setup and is slow on local models. SurfSense supports 100+ LLMs, 50+ file formats, 27+ connectors, and mirrors NotebookLM's UX with extras like podcast generation, report generation, and multi-tab chats. AnythingLLM is a capable AI workspace with a Query mode for source-grounded chat, but lacks notes panels and transformation prompts. SurfSense is recommended as the closest true NotebookLM replacement. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What are the best open-source alternatives to NotebookLM? Open Notebook, SurfSense, and AnythingLLM are three self-hosted options. Open Notebook supports 16+ model providers with per-function model assignment and editable prompts but requires Docker setup and runs slowly with local models. SurfSense supports 100+ LLMs, 50+ file formats, and 27+ connectors including Google Drive, Notion, and Slack, plus report and podcast generation. AnythingLLM offers a Query mode for source-grounded chat but lacks notes and podcast features. _daily.dev surfaces comparisons like this for developers weighing self-hosted AI tools against cloud defaults._ ### Why does Open Notebook run slowly with local models? Source processing takes minutes because it runs everything through nomic-embed-text on CPU, and the first message per session incurs a 30-60 second cold start. Using a cloud API option instead of fully local models resolves much of this slowness. Trying to use a custom GGUF file already on disk can also cause the first chat to crash. _developers troubleshooting slow local-model setups can find practical fixes like this via daily.dev._ ### What does AnythingLLM's Query mode do differently from Chat mode? Query mode restricts answers to only what is found in embedded document context, refusing to respond when nothing matches, and lets users customize the refusal message. Chat mode instead blends document context with the model's own general knowledge. Query mode is the setting that makes AnythingLLM behave like a source-grounded tool similar to NotebookLM, though it still lacks a notes panel and per-source controls. _anyone configuring AnythingLLM for document-grounded chat can track setup details like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I replaced NotebookLM with a self-hosted alternative for a week, and it's good enough to make me hesitate](https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-notebooklm-with-a-self-hosted-alternative-for-a-week-and-it-s-good-enough-to-make-me-hes-vtswcfsew) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#rag](https://daily.dev/tags/rag), [#local-ai](https://daily.dev/tags/local-ai), [#notebooklm](https://daily.dev/tags/notebooklm) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-three-open-source-notebooklm-alternatives-and-only-one-of-them-is-the-real-deal-24goek0aa) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I tried three open-source NotebookLM alternatives, and only one of them is the real deal","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-three-open-source-notebooklm-alternatives-and-only-one-of-them-is-the-real-deal-24goek0aa","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-three-open-source-notebooklm-alternatives-and-only-one-of-them-is-the-real-deal-24goek0aa"},"datePublished":"2026-07-04T11:32:28.061Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T20:15:17.332Z","description":"A hands-on comparison of three open-source NotebookLM alternatives: Open Notebook, SurfSense, and AnythingLLM. 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