head to head · open source
Joplin vs Blinko
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars, 6,296 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Blinko has 11,020 stars, 782 forks, 418 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 412% (56,416 vs 11,020 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Blinko is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Blinko 7%. 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 | Blinko | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 11K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 782 |
| 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 Blinko if
- You want the Blinko feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Blinko 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 Blinko
Blinko is AI powered note taking app. It lives in Productivity & Utilities / Note Taking & Knowledge Management category. Project targets individuals who need quick capture and organization of fleeting thoughts. It stores notes as plain text with Markdown. It supports self hosted deployment, so users keep notes and data in their own environment. Project uses TypeScript and GPL 3.0 license. GitHub metadata lists 11011 stars, 780 forks, and last push 2026 08 27. Project has 418 open issues. README lists live demo, official site, and documents.
read the full Blinko overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Blinko more popular?
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars and Blinko has 11,020. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and Blinko free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and Blinko is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and Blinko?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and Blinko 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 Blinko?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,416 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Blinko if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.