head to head · open source
flatnotes vs poznote
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars, 214 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. poznote has 852 stars, 35 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. flatnotes leads on adoption by 278% (3,223 vs 852 stars). flatnotes is written in Vue under MIT; poznote is written in JavaScript under MIT. flatnotes has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, poznote 4%. poznote was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (note-taking, notes, wiki), 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 | poznote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.2K | ★ 852 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Vue | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-29 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 214 | ⑂ 35 |
| 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 poznote if
- You want the poznote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and poznote 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 poznote
Poznote is a free, self hosted, open source note taking web application for individuals, homelabs, and teams who want Notion , Obsidian , Evernote , or OneNote style notes running on hardware they control.
read the full poznote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is flatnotes or poznote more popular?
flatnotes has 3,223 GitHub stars and poznote has 852. flatnotes has the larger community by that measure.
Are flatnotes and poznote free?
Both are open source. flatnotes is licensed under MIT and poznote under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between flatnotes and poznote?
flatnotes is written in Vue and poznote 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 poznote?
Choose flatnotes if you want the larger community (3,223 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose poznote if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.