head to head · open source
Joplin vs DeepNotes
Joplin has 56,478 GitHub stars, 6,303 forks, 646 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. DeepNotes has 604 stars, 54 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 9,251% (56,478 vs 604 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; DeepNotes is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, DeepNotes 9%. Joplin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (note-taking), 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
| Joplin | DeepNotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 604 |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-06-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 54 |
| 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 DeepNotes if
- You want the DeepNotes 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 DeepNotes 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 DeepNotes
DeepNotes is an open source, end to end encrypted visual note taking tool that arranges notes on an infinite canvas with deeply nested pages and realtime collaboration, aimed at individuals and teams who want private, self hostable knowledge management.
read the full DeepNotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or DeepNotes more popular?
Joplin has 56,478 GitHub stars and DeepNotes has 604. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and DeepNotes free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and DeepNotes is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and DeepNotes?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and DeepNotes 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 DeepNotes?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,478 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose DeepNotes if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.