head to head · open source
Joplin vs Anarlog
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars, 6,296 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Anarlog has 9,335 stars, 765 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Joplin leads on adoption by 504% (56,416 vs 9,335 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Anarlog is written in TypeScript under MIT. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Anarlog 8%. Anarlog 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Joplin | Anarlog | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 765 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Joplin if
- You weight community size — 56K 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 Anarlog if
- You want the Anarlog feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Anarlog fits your workflow better
About Joplin
Joplin is a free, open source, privacy focused note taking and to do application that keeps notes as Markdown on your own device and synchronises them, end to end encrypted, across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
read the full Joplin overview →
About Anarlog
Anarlog is an open source meeting notetaker for people who want AI generated notes without a bot joining the call. It listens to device audio, can transcribe on the machine, and keeps sessions, notes, and transcripts in a local SQLite database, with recordings and attachments stored as plain local files. The project lives in the open source productivity ecosystem, built with React, Rust, Tauri, and TypeScript, and is presented as an alternative to Granola.
read the full Anarlog overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Anarlog more popular?
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars and Anarlog has 9,335. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and Anarlog free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and Anarlog is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and Anarlog?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and Anarlog 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, Joplin or Anarlog?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,416 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Anarlog if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.