[opensourcedex]

best-of ranking · updated nightly

Best Open Source Note Taking & Knowledge Management Tools

Ranked by GitHub stars — actual adoption, not editorial taste. All 10 are free, open source and self-hostable; license and last activity on every entry.

  1. 1
    AppFlowy ★ 77K

    AI workspace for docs, projects, and wikis you control

    AGPL-3.0 Dart pushed 2026-09-15 details →
  2. 2
    Memos ★ 63K

    Self-hosted timeline for quick notes, logs, and snippets

    MIT Go pushed 2026-09-17 details →
  3. 3
    Joplin ★ 56K

    Encrypted note-taking that syncs across all your devices

    NOASSERTION TypeScript pushed 2026-09-17 details →
  4. 4
    SiYuan ★ 46K

    Privacy-first knowledge management with block-level linking

    AGPL-3.0 TypeScript pushed 2026-09-17 details →
  5. 5
    Logseq ★ 45K

    Privacy-first knowledge base that connects your notes

    AGPL-3.0 Clojure pushed 2026-09-17 details →
  6. 6
    Outline ★ 41K

    Fast, collaborative wiki for teams who need organized docs

    NOASSERTION TypeScript pushed 2026-09-17 details →
  7. 7
    Open-Notebook ★ 39K

    AI-powered research notebook with full privacy control

    MIT TypeScript pushed 2026-09-13 details →
  8. 8
    Khoj ★ 37K

    AI second brain for research, automation, and personal agents

    AGPL-3.0 Python pushed 2026-08-02 details →
  9. 9
    Docmost ★ 22K

    Self-hosted wiki with AI, compliance, and real-time editing

    AGPL-3.0 TypeScript pushed 2026-09-17 details →
  10. 10
    Tolaria ★ 20K

    Local-first, Git-native personal knowledge base with AI

    AGPL-3.0 TypeScript pushed 2026-09-17 details →
method stars desc · snapshot from github api refresh nightly related Input & Dictation, Office Suites, Email & Communication, Password & Secret Management, Design & Visualization, Time & Task Management

Related best-of lists

best Input & Dictation →best Office Suites →best Email & Communication →best Password & Secret Management →best Design & Visualization →best Time & Task Management →

last updated nightly · ranking method: github stars, live-tracked

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best open source Note Taking & Knowledge Management tool in 2026?

AppFlowy leads the ranking with 76,797 GitHub stars, ahead of Memos. Rankings use live GitHub star counts, refreshed nightly.

How is this list of Note Taking & Knowledge Management tools ranked?

By GitHub stars — a proxy for adoption and community size. Each entry also shows its licence, primary language and last commit date, so you can judge maintenance activity rather than trusting the ranking alone.

Are the best Note Taking & Knowledge Management tools free?

Every project on this list is open source and free to self-host. Some also offer paid managed hosting, but the software itself carries no licence fee.