head to head · open source
Docs vs flatnotes
Docs has 16,965 GitHub stars, 693 forks, 370 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. flatnotes has 3,274 stars, 222 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Docs leads on adoption by 418% (16,965 vs 3,274 stars). Docs is written in TypeScript under MIT; flatnotes is written in Vue under MIT. Docs has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, flatnotes 7%. Docs 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
| Docs | flatnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-08-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 693 | ⑂ 222 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docs if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick flatnotes if
- You want the flatnotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You evaluated both and flatnotes fits your workflow better
About Docs
Chat on Matrix • Documentation • Try Docs • Contact us La Suite Docs: Collaborative Text Editing Docs, where your notes can become knowledge through live collaboration. Docs is an open source collaborative editor that helps teams write, organize, and share knowledge together in real time. What is Docs? Docs is an open source alternative to tools like Notion or Google Docs, focused on: Real time collaboration Clean, structured documents Knowledge organization Data ownership & self hosting Built for public organizations, companies, and open communities. Why use Docs? Writing Rich text & Markdown editing Slash…
About flatnotes
A self hosted, database less note taking web app that utilises a flat folder of markdown files for storage. Log into the demo site and take a look around. Note: This site resets every 15 minutes. Contents Design Principle Features Getting Started Hosted Self Hosted Roadmap Contributing Sponsorship Thanks Design Principle flatnotes is designed to be a distraction free note taking app that puts your note content first. This means: A clean and simple user interface. No folders, notebooks or anything like that. Just all of your notes, backed by powerful search and tagging functionality. Quick access to a full text…
read the full flatnotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docs or flatnotes more popular?
Docs has 16,965 GitHub stars and flatnotes has 3,274. Docs has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docs and flatnotes free?
Both are open source. Docs is licensed under MIT and flatnotes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docs and flatnotes?
Docs is written in TypeScript and flatnotes in Vue. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Docs or flatnotes?
Choose Docs if you want the larger community (16,965 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose flatnotes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.