head to head · open source
Logseq vs iwe
Logseq has 45,504 GitHub stars, 2,865 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped yesterday. iwe has 1,816 stars, 94 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Logseq leads on adoption by 2,406% (45,504 vs 1,816 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; iwe is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, iwe 5%. Logseq was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (knowledge-graph, local-first, markdown), 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
| Logseq | iwe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Clojure | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 94 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Logseq if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Clojure
- 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 Logseq
Logseq A privacy first, open source platform for knowledge management and collaboration Home Page Blog Documentation Roadmap Table of Contents 🚀 Database Version 🤔 Why Logseq? 👀 How can I use it? 📚 Learn more 🫶 Support Logseq Development 💡 Feature requests 🔌 Plugin API 🌟 Contributing to Logseq 🛠️ Setting Up a Development Environment ✨ Inspiration 🙏 Thank You 🚀 Database Version The Database version (DB version) of Logseq introduces DB graphs. See this page to get an overview of the main features for DB graphs. If you are an existing user, see changes with the DB version. The DB version has its own new…
read the full Logseq 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 Logseq or iwe more popular?
Logseq has 45,504 GitHub stars and iwe has 1,816. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and iwe free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and iwe under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and iwe?
Logseq is written in Clojure 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, Logseq or iwe?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (45,504 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose iwe if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.