head to head · open source
Joplin vs Beaver Notes
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars, 6,296 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Beaver Notes has 1,344 stars, 65 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 4,098% (56,416 vs 1,344 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Beaver Notes is written in JavaScript under MIT. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Beaver Notes 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 | Beaver Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 65 |
| 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 Beaver Notes if
- You want the Beaver Notes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Beaver Notes 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 Beaver Notes
Beaver Notes is an open source, local first workspace for notes, projects, and meetings. It is a JavaScript application under the MIT license, and it presents itself as a privacy focused note taking tool. The core idea is that notes stay on the user's device unless the user explicitly chooses a sync method.
read the full Beaver Notes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Beaver Notes more popular?
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars and Beaver Notes has 1,344. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and Beaver Notes free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and Beaver Notes is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and Beaver Notes?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and Beaver Notes 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, Joplin or Beaver Notes?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,416 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Beaver Notes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.