head to head · open source
docsify vs nowen-note
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars, 5,789 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. nowen-note has 523 stars, 79 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. docsify leads on adoption by 5,925% (31,513 vs 523 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; nowen-note is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, nowen-note 15%. docsify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (markdown), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| docsify | nowen-note | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 523 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 79 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick docsify if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- 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 docsify
Docsify is a client side documentation site generator that turns one or more Markdown files into a website with no build process, aimed at developers and maintainers who want to publish documentation from a static host such as GitHub Pages.
read the full docsify 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 docsify or nowen-note more popular?
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars and nowen-note has 523. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and nowen-note free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and nowen-note under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and nowen-note?
docsify is written in JavaScript 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, docsify or nowen-note?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,513 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nowen-note if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.