head to head · open source
Joplin vs iwe
Joplin has 57,065 GitHub stars, 6,397 forks, 658 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. iwe has 1,816 stars, 94 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 3,042% (57,065 vs 1,816 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; iwe is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, iwe 5%. Joplin 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
| Joplin | iwe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-06 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.4K | ⑂ 94 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Joplin if
- You weight community size — 57K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick iwe if
- You want the iwe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and iwe fits your workflow better
About Joplin
Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to do application, which can handle a large number of notes organised into notebooks. The notes are searchable, can be copied, tagged and modified either from the applications directly or from your own text editor. The notes are in Markdown format. Notes exported from Evernote can be imported into Joplin, including the formatted content (which is converted to Markdown), resources (images, attachments, etc.) and complete metadata (geolocation, updated time, created time, etc.). Plain Markdown files can also be imported. Joplin is "offline first", which means you…
read the full Joplin overview →
About iwe
IWE Memory system for you and your AI agents Turn your thinking into queryable context IWE turns a directory of markdown files into a knowledge graph — a connected structure you browse from your editor and your AI queries from the command line. Same files, same links, two interfaces. No cloud, no database, no lock in. Version everything with git. IWE is for people who want database style queries on their notes — "all drafts under this subtree", "every accepted decision in Q1" — without moving them into an actual database. Write in Markdown , structure with links, give AI agents the tools to navigate your…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or iwe more popular?
Joplin has 57,065 GitHub stars and iwe has 1,816. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and iwe free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and iwe is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and iwe?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and iwe in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Joplin or iwe?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (57,065 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose iwe if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.