head to head · open source
flatnotes vs gramax
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars, 214 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. gramax has 607 stars, 25 forks, 279 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. flatnotes leads on adoption by 431% (3,223 vs 607 stars). flatnotes is written in Vue under MIT; gramax is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. flatnotes has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, gramax 4%. flatnotes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (markdown, note-taking), 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
| flatnotes | gramax | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.2K | ★ 607 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Vue | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-29 | 2026-08-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 214 | ⑂ 25 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick flatnotes if
- You weight community size — 3.2K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gramax if
- You want the gramax 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 gramax fits your workflow better
About flatnotes
flatnotes is a self hosted, database less note taking web app that keeps every note as a Markdown file in a flat folder, built for individuals and small teams who want a browser based editor without handing ownership of their notes to a hosted service.
read the full flatnotes overview →
About gramax
Gramax is a free, open source, GPL 3.0 docs as code application that keeps documentation as local Markdown files, edits them through a visual editor, versions them with Git, and publishes them as a customizable documentation portal or static site.
read the full gramax overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is flatnotes or gramax more popular?
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars and gramax has 607. flatnotes has the larger community by that measure.
Are flatnotes and gramax free?
Both are open source. flatnotes is licensed under MIT and gramax under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between flatnotes and gramax?
flatnotes is written in Vue and gramax 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, flatnotes or gramax?
Choose flatnotes if you want the larger community (3,223 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose gramax if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.