head to head · open source
flatnotes vs NoteDiscovery
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars, 214 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. NoteDiscovery has 2,807 stars, 233 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. flatnotes leads on adoption by 15% (3,223 vs 2,807 stars). flatnotes is written in Vue under MIT; NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript under MIT. flatnotes has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, NoteDiscovery 8%. NoteDiscovery was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (markdown, note, 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 | NoteDiscovery | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.2K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Vue | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-29 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 214 | ⑂ 233 |
| 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 NoteDiscovery if
- You want the NoteDiscovery feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and NoteDiscovery 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 NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery is a lightweight, self hosted note taking and knowledge base application, written in JavaScript and released under the MIT licence, that stores every note as a plain markdown file in folders on your own server and is aimed at privacy conscious individuals, developers, knowledge workers, and teams who want to own their data.
read the full NoteDiscovery overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is flatnotes or NoteDiscovery more popular?
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars and NoteDiscovery has 2,807. flatnotes has the larger community by that measure.
Are flatnotes and NoteDiscovery free?
Both are open source. flatnotes is licensed under MIT and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between flatnotes and NoteDiscovery?
flatnotes is written in Vue and NoteDiscovery in JavaScript. 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 NoteDiscovery?
Choose flatnotes if you want the larger community (3,223 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose NoteDiscovery if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.