A private, multi-model, 100% local, full-featured alternative to Notebook LM
In a world dominated by Artificial Intelligence, having the ability to think 🧠 and acquire new knowledge 💡, is a skill that should not be a privilege for a few, nor restricted to a single provider.
Open Notebook empowers you to:
- 🔒 Control your data - Keep your research private and secure
- 🤖 Choose your AI models - 20+ providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible server (LM Studio, vLLM)
- 📚 Organize multi-modal content - PDFs, videos, audio, web pages, and more
- 🎙️ Generate professional podcasts - Advanced multi-speaker podcast generation
- 🔍 Search intelligently - Full-text and vector search across all your content
- 💬 Chat with context - AI conversations powered by your research
- 🌐 Multi-language UI - English, Bengali, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish
Learn more about our project at https://www.open-notebook.ai
🆚 Open Notebook vs Google Notebook LM
| Feature | Open Notebook | Google Notebook LM | Advantage |
|---|
| Privacy & Control | Self-hosted, your data | Google cloud only | Complete data sovereignty |
| AI Provider Choice | 20+ providers, cloud or local (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Ollama, LM Studio, etc.) | Google models only | Flexibility and cost optimization |
| Podcast Speakers | 1-4 speakers with custom profiles | 2 speakers only | Extreme flexibility |
| Content Transformations | Custom and built-in | Limited options | Unlimited processing power |
| API Access | Full REST API | No API | Complete automation |
| Deployment | Docker, cloud, or local | Google hosted only | Deploy anywhere |
| Citations | Answers cite the sources, notes and insights they used | Comprehensive with sources | Research integrity |
| Customization | Open source, fully customizable | Closed system | Unlimited extensibility |
| Cost | Pay only for AI usage | Free tier + Monthly subscription | Transparent and controllable |
Why Choose Open Notebook?
- 🔒 Privacy First: Your sensitive research stays completely private
- 💰 Cost Control: Choose cheaper AI providers or run locally with Ollama
- 🎙️ Better Podcasts: Full script control and multi-speaker flexibility vs limited 2-speaker deep-dive format
- 🔧 Unlimited Customization: Modify, extend, and integrate as needed
- 🌐 No Vendor Lock-in: Switch providers, deploy anywhere, own your data
Built With
🚀 Quick Start
Prerequisites
- Docker Desktop (macOS, Windows) or Docker Engine with the Compose plugin (Linux)
- An API key from an AI provider, or a local model server such as Ollama. You add it in the UI, not in config files.
Step 1: Download docker-compose.yml
mkdir open-notebook && cd open-notebook
curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/main/docker-compose.yml
This is the official docker-compose.yml from this repository. It runs two services: surrealdb (the database) and open_notebook (UI, API and background worker).
Step 2: Set your encryption key
Edit docker-compose.yml and change this line:
- OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY=change-me-to-a-secret-string
to a long random secret you generate yourself (for example with openssl rand -hex 32; other options). It encrypts the API keys you store; keep it.
Shared network or server? The UI (8502) and API (5055) are published on all network interfaces and there is no password by default. If other devices can reach this machine, change those two port lines to "127.0.0.1:8502:8502" and "127.0.0.1:5055:5055", or add - OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD=your-password to the environment: block, before starting.
Step 3: Start services
docker compose up -d
Wait about 30 seconds, then open: http://localhost:8502
Step 4: Connect an AI provider
- In the sidebar, open Models (under Manage).
- Find your provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.) and click Add Configuration.
- Enter a name and your API key (local providers such as Ollama need a Base URL instead), then click Add Configuration.
- Click Test on the new configuration to check the connection.
- Click Models, choose a Model Type, tick the models to add and click Add. Add at least one Language model and one Embedding model.
- Under Default Model Assignments, click Auto-assign Defaults (or pick the models yourself).
Done! Create a notebook, add a source and start chatting. Full walkthrough: Connect a provider.
Need an API key? Get one from:
OpenAI · Anthropic · Google · Groq
Anthropic and Groq have no embedding models; pair them with a provider that does (see the matrix).
Want free local AI? See the Local Quick Start (Ollama in Docker).
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
