personal knowledge base / note-taking
Trilium is an open-source, self-hosted hierarchical note-taking application for building large personal knowledge bases.
Same problem, same approach. Swapping one for another is a config change, not a rewrite.
choose when you need a mature cross-platform note app with first-class mobile clients and WebDAV sync.
Joplin - the privacy-focused note taking app with sync capabilities for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
choose for a self-hosted block-level knowledge workspace with plugins and a similar local-first philosophy.
An open-source, privacy-first, self-hosted knowledge workspace where humans and AI agents work together 开源、隐私优先、自托管的知识工作空间，让人与智能体在此协作
Solves the same problem with a different architecture or at a different layer. Expect to rewrite the integration.
choose when you want AI-assisted capture and organization of raw notes into markdown instead of building a hierarchy manually.
Capture first. Organize later. A local-first Markdown app that turns scattered records into clear notes with AI.
choose when you need a local-first team workspace combining Slack-style chat and Notion-style docs rather than a solo note tree.
Open-source and local-first Slack and Notion alternative that puts you in control of your data
choose for a multi-tenant, self-hosted Notion/Confluence alternative with OIDC/SSO and local S3 backups.
📚 The open-source, offline-first Notion, Obsidian & Confluence alternative. Advanced Markdown, multi-tenant teams, OIDC/SSO, and local S3 backups. Deploy in one command.
choose when you want a Notion-like AI collaborative workspace with projects, wikis, and team databases.
Bring projects, wikis, and teams together with AI. AppFlowy is the AI collaborative workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data. The leading open source Notion alternative.
choose when you need a privacy-first knowledge base that combines docs and whiteboard planning in one canvas.
There can be more than Notion and Miro. AFFiNE(pronounced [ə‘fain]) is a next-gen knowledge base that brings planning, sorting and creating all together. Privacy first, open-source, customizable and ready to use.
choose if you prefer an outliner-style workflow over a hierarchical tree for knowledge management.
A privacy-first, open-source platform for knowledge management and collaboration. Download link: http://github.com/logseq/logseq/releases. roadmap: https://logseq.io/p/NX4mc_ggEV
choose for a real-time collaborative wiki and documentation tool for teams instead of a personal note base.
Docmost is an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software. It is an open-source alternative to Confluence and Notion.
choose when you want a serverless Cloudflare-hosted Evernote-style notes app with native MCP support.
Serverless, 100% free, and open-source Evernote alternative on Cloudflare with native MCP | 无需服务器、0费用、原生支持 AI Agent 的开源自托管『印象笔记』
choose when you want AI to automatically turn existing documents into an interlinked wiki instead of manually authoring notes.
LLM Wiki is a cross-platform desktop application that turns your documents into an organized, interlinked knowledge base — automatically. Instead of traditional RAG (retrieve-and-answer from scratch every time), the LLM incrementally builds and maintains a persistent wiki from your sources。
choose for end-to-end encrypted synced notes with a consumer app feel if you do not want to self-host.
A fully open source & end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote.
choose for a self-hosted knowledge base with a different, discovery-focused interface.
Your Self-Hosted Knowledge Base
choose for mobile-first note-taking with Git-backed storage and sync.
Mobile first Note Taking integrated with Git
choose if you want a PKM system inside VSCode using markdown and backlinks.
A personal knowledge management and sharing system for VSCode
choose for a TiddlyWiki-based desktop knowledge base with automatic git backup and web clipping.
TidGi is an privacy-in-mind, automated, auto-git-backup, freely-deployed knowledge management Desktop note app, based on Tiddlywiki, with REST API for web-clipping and Anki connect. 「 太记 」是一个基于「 太微 TiddlyWiki 」的知识管理桌面应用，能保护隐私内容、高级自动化、自动Git云备份、部署为博客，且可通过RESTAPI与Anki等应用连接。（迭代开发中欢迎试用，开发进度见下方链接）(Under active development, see website below for details)
choose for a semantically connected, self-hosted personal knowledge base with a modern UI.
Self-hosted, semantically-connected personal knowledge base
An earlier or more limited way to do the job. Still the right call when you need something small, proven, or CPU-only.
choose for a simple plain-text notes app synced via Nextcloud when you do not need graphs, scripting, or advanced linking.
QOwnNotes is a plain-text file notepad and todo-list manager with Markdown support and Nextcloud / ownCloud integration.
choose when you need a minimal single-binary Markdown wiki with SQLite and no external database.
LeafWiki - Self-hosted wiki. Single Go binary, SQLite, Markdown on disk. No external database required.
choose for a fast, minimal native notes app if you only need basic text capture, not a full PKM.
Fast and beautiful note-taking app written in C++. Write down your thoughts.
choose for a very simple PHP/Markdown web note app focused on minimalism rather than knowledge management.
Markdown note-taking web application designed for simplicity
choose for a browser-only WYSIWYG markdown note app with local storage, when you do not need self-hosting or sync.
A web only WYSIWYG note taking app that saves notes locally in markdown format. v2: https://app.bangle.io/
These projects were analysed and named Trilium among their alternatives. The relationship is not symmetric — how Trilium rates them is a separate judgement, made when Trilium is analysed in its own right.
calls Trilium “Choose when you want a hierarchical note tree and client-side encryption without Evernote import, under AGPL.”
Joplin - the privacy-focused note taking app with sync capabilities for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
calls Trilium “Choose it if you prefer a mature hierarchical notebook with powerful scripting and a lightweight self-hosted server.”
An open-source, privacy-first, self-hosted knowledge workspace where humans and AI agents work together 开源、隐私优先、自托管的知识工作空间，让人与智能体在此协作
calls Trilium “Choose when you want hierarchical note trees, scripting, and self-hosting without a whiteboard/canvas.”
There can be more than Notion and Miro. AFFiNE(pronounced [ə‘fain]) is a next-gen knowledge base that brings planning, sorting and creating all together. Privacy first, open-source, customizable and ready to use.
calls Trilium “Choose if you need a self-hosted hierarchical knowledge base with scripting/relations rather than quick capture.”
Open-source, self-hosted note-taking tool built for quick capture. Markdown-native, lightweight, and fully yours.
calls Trilium “Choose when you prefer a hierarchical note tree and powerful scripting over block-based outliner.”
A privacy-first, open-source platform for knowledge management and collaboration. Download link: http://github.com/logseq/logseq/releases. roadmap: https://logseq.io/p/NX4mc_ggEV
calls Trilium “Choose when you want a hierarchical, scriptable personal knowledge base rather than a team multi-user web app.”
Docs is an open-source text editor: web-native, made for real-time collaboration, cleanly structured documents and sub-documents with full ownership of your data. Built to scale with Django and React.
calls Trilium “Choose Trilium if you want a hierarchical, self-hosted note-taking app with a built-in scripting environment and no reliance on third-party sync.”
A fully open source & end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote.
calls Trilium “If you prefer a hierarchical note tree and don't need AI; it's database-backed.”
Capture first. Organize later. A local-first Markdown app that turns scattered records into clear notes with AI.
calls Trilium “Choose when you want a self-contained hierarchical note database with scripting rather than a Markdown file vault in an IDE.”
The personal knowledge management (PKM) tool that grows as you do!
calls Trilium “choose when you need a hierarchical note tree and self-hosted web access with scripting.”
Think fearlessly with end-to-end encrypted notes and files. For issues, visit https://standardnotes.com/forum or https://standardnotes.com/help.
calls Trilium “When you want hierarchical personal knowledge with scripting, not team collaboration.”
Bring projects, wikis, and teams together with AI. AppFlowy is the AI collaborative workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data. The leading open source Notion alternative.
calls Trilium “Choose when you want a hierarchical note app with rich built-in features rather than a VSCode workflow.”
A personal knowledge management and sharing system for VSCode