head to head · open source
flatnotes vs nowen-note
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars, 214 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. nowen-note has 525 stars, 79 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. flatnotes leads on adoption by 514% (3,223 vs 525 stars). flatnotes is written in Vue under MIT; nowen-note is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. flatnotes has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, nowen-note 15%. nowen-note 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-taking, notes), 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 | nowen-note | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.2K | ★ 525 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Vue | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-29 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 214 | ⑂ 79 |
| 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 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 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 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 flatnotes or nowen-note more popular?
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars and nowen-note has 525. flatnotes has the larger community by that measure.
Are flatnotes and nowen-note free?
Both are open source. flatnotes is licensed under MIT and nowen-note under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between flatnotes and nowen-note?
flatnotes is written in Vue 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, flatnotes or nowen-note?
Choose flatnotes if you want the larger community (3,223 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.