Langchain-Chatchat vs Open Notebook
Short answer
Langchain-Chatchat: Chinese-first local knowledge-base Q&A and agent app built on LangChain, wired to local model servers. Open Notebook: Private, self-hosted alternative to Google NotebookLM with your choice of AI models. Both are in our Knowledge base & RAG category.
Choose Open Notebook if you want: an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale).
Langchain-Chatchat publishes no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
Langchain-Chatchat vs Open Notebook side by side
| Langchain-Chatchat | Open Notebook | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge base & RAG | Knowledge base & RAG |
| What it is | Chinese-first local knowledge-base Q&A and agent app built on LangChain, wired to local model servers. | Private, self-hosted alternative to Google NotebookLM with your choice of AI models. |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| License type | Permissive | Permissive |
| License conditions | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Models keep their own licenses. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license notice. |
| Status | Stale (no commit in 180+ days) | Active |
| GitHub stars | 38.7k | 41.0k |
| Last commit | Nov 10, 2025 | Oct 5, 2026 |
| Latest release | v0.3.1 | v1.15.0 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | 4 GB RAM |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | Not required by the app itself. Since 0.3.0 hardware depends on the model server you connect; the docs say it can run on CPU, GPU, NPU or MPS. The Docker Compose guide pairs it with Xinference and assumes the NVIDIA Container Toolkit. | Not required / not stated |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | from €19.99/mo |
| Deploy method | pip (or Docker Compose with Xinference) | Docker Compose |
| Known gotchas | 5 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Not 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 Langchain-Chatchat guide → | Full Open Notebook guide → |
Key differences
- License: Langchain-Chatchat: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Open Notebook: MIT (Permissive).
- Official hardware: Langchain-Chatchat: not published. Open Notebook: minimum 4 GB RAM.
- GPU: Langchain-Chatchat: optional / see notes. Open Notebook: not required or not stated.
- Est. server cost: Langchain-Chatchat: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Open Notebook: from €19.99/mo.
- Deploy: Langchain-Chatchat: pip (or Docker Compose with Xinference) · multi-container stack. Open Notebook: Docker Compose · multi-container stack.
- Status: Langchain-Chatchat: Stale (no commit in 180+ days). Open Notebook: Active.
- GitHub stars: Langchain-Chatchat: 38.7k. Open Notebook: 41.0k.
- Last commit: Langchain-Chatchat: Nov 10, 2025. Open Notebook: Oct 5, 2026.
- Latest release: Langchain-Chatchat: v0.3.1 (Jul 12, 2024). Open Notebook: v1.15.0 (Oct 4, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Knowledge base & RAG.
Langchain-Chatchat vs Open Notebook: FAQ
Langchain-Chatchat or Open Notebook: which should a small business choose?
Choose Open Notebook if you want: an actively maintained project (Langchain-Chatchat is stale). Langchain-Chatchat publishes no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, Langchain-Chatchat or Open Notebook?
Langchain-Chatchat: not estimated (no official RAM figure). 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 Langchain-Chatchat and Open Notebook need?
Langchain-Chatchat: not published. Open Notebook: minimum 4 GB RAM.
What is the license difference between Langchain-Chatchat and Open Notebook?
Langchain-Chatchat: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed. Models keep their own licenses. Open Notebook: MIT (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep the license notice. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is Langchain-Chatchat or Open Notebook more actively maintained?
Langchain-Chatchat: Stale (no commit in 180+ days), last commit Nov 10, 2025. Open Notebook: Active, last commit Oct 5, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Oct 31, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, Langchain-Chatchat or Open Notebook?
Langchain-Chatchat installs via pip (or Docker Compose with Xinference) (multi-container stack); Open Notebook via Docker Compose (multi-container stack). Langchain-Chatchat lists 5 known gotchas and Open Notebook lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- Langchain-Chatchat self-hosting guide · Open Notebook self-hosting guide
- All Langchain-Chatchat alternatives, ranked
- All Open Notebook alternatives, ranked
- AFFiNE vs Langchain-Chatchat
- AFFiNE vs Open Notebook
- AnythingLLM vs Langchain-Chatchat
- AnythingLLM vs Open Notebook
- DocsGPT vs Langchain-Chatchat
- DocsGPT vs Open Notebook
- FastGPT vs Langchain-Chatchat
- FastGPT vs Open Notebook
- Khoj vs Open Notebook
- kotaemon vs Langchain-Chatchat
- kotaemon vs Open Notebook
- Langchain-Chatchat vs LightRAG
- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- Langchain-Chatchat GitHub repository: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat
- Langchain-Chatchat documentation: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat#readme
- Langchain-Chatchat license: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat/blob/master/LICENSE
- Langchain-Chatchat hardware requirements: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat#0-软硬件要求
- Langchain-Chatchat deploy instructions: github.com/chatchat-space/Langchain-Chatchat#pip-安装部署
- 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 2026-10-25): 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.