head to head · open source
Joplin vs Darkwrite
Joplin has 56,994 GitHub stars, 6,390 forks, 652 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Darkwrite has 320 stars, 15 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 19 days ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 17,711% (56,994 vs 320 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Darkwrite is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Darkwrite 5%. Joplin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (electron, javascript), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Joplin | Darkwrite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 320 |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.4K | ⑂ 15 |
| 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 Darkwrite if
- You want the Darkwrite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Darkwrite 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 Darkwrite
Follow on Twitter Download Darkwrite Report bugs 📓 Take notes the way you want. ✒️ Darkwrite lets you take notes without getting in your way. Head over to the releases page to get started. ⭐ Star this repository to know when we release new updates. 🖊️ Just start typing. 🖋️ Unleash the power of a rich editor which supports formatting, headings, todo lists, numbered lists, links, images, tables and much more. 🖌️ Make it yours. 🎨 Choose from the selection of included themes or create your own. Say goodbye to boring light and dark themes. ✒️ Pick the fonts you like. You can change the default styles for your…
read the full Darkwrite 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 Darkwrite more popular?
Joplin has 56,994 GitHub stars and Darkwrite has 320. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and Darkwrite free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and Darkwrite is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and Darkwrite?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and Darkwrite 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 Darkwrite?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,994 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Darkwrite if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.