head to head · open source
Joplin vs iwe
Joplin has 56,475 GitHub stars, 6,300 forks, 642 open issues and last shipped today. iwe has 1,715 stars, 88 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 3,193% (56,475 vs 1,715 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; iwe is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, iwe 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 | iwe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 88 |
| 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 iwe if
- You want the iwe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and iwe 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 iwe
IWE is a local first Rust tool that turns a directory of Markdown files into a knowledge graph, serving the same notes to your editor through a language server and to AI agents through a CLI and MCP server — it is built for anyone who wants database style queries over plain notes they continue to own.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or iwe more popular?
Joplin has 56,475 GitHub stars and iwe has 1,715. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and iwe free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and iwe is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and iwe?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and iwe in Rust. 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 iwe?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,475 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose iwe if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.