head to head · open source
Joplin vs GitJournal
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars, 6,297 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GitJournal has 4,224 stars, 309 forks, 132 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 1,236% (56,429 vs 4,224 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; GitJournal is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, GitJournal 7%. 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 | GitJournal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 309 |
| 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 GitJournal if
- You want the GitJournal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and GitJournal 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 GitJournal
GitJournal is a mobile first, privacy focused Markdown note taking app that stores every note in a Git repository of the user's choosing, built for people who want their writing to stay portable and version controlled instead of locked inside a proprietary sync service.
read the full GitJournal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or GitJournal more popular?
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars and GitJournal has 4,224. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and GitJournal free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and GitJournal is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and GitJournal?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and GitJournal in Dart. 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 GitJournal?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,429 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose GitJournal if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.