head to head · open source
devdocs vs nowen-note
devdocs has 39,462 GitHub stars, 2,643 forks, 196 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. nowen-note has 523 stars, 79 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. devdocs leads on adoption by 7,445% (39,462 vs 523 stars). devdocs is written in Ruby under MPL-2.0; nowen-note is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. devdocs has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, nowen-note 15%. devdocs was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| devdocs | nowen-note | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 523 |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 79 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick devdocs if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nowen-note if
- You want the nowen-note feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nowen-note fits your workflow better
About devdocs
DevDocs is an API documentation browser that combines multiple developer documentations into a single, clean and organized web UI with instant search, offline support, a mobile version, a dark theme and keyboard shortcuts, and it is aimed at developers who need to read and search API and reference documentation quickly.
read the full devdocs overview →
About nowen-note
Nowen Note (弄文笔记) is a GPL 3.0, self hosted knowledge base, daily journal and task workspace written in TypeScript for individuals and teams who want their notes, attachments and indexes to live on their own NAS or server.
read the full nowen-note overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is devdocs or nowen-note more popular?
devdocs has 39,462 GitHub stars and nowen-note has 523. devdocs has the larger community by that measure.
Are devdocs and nowen-note free?
Both are open source. devdocs is licensed under MPL-2.0 and nowen-note under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between devdocs and nowen-note?
devdocs is written in Ruby and nowen-note in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, devdocs or nowen-note?
Choose devdocs if you want the larger community (39,462 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose nowen-note if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.