head to head · open source
Joplin vs Justnote
Joplin has 56,994 GitHub stars, 6,391 forks, 658 open issues and last shipped today. Justnote has 67 stars, 6 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 84,966% (56,994 vs 67 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Justnote is written in TypeScript under GPL-2.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Justnote 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 | Justnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 67 |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-02-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.4K | ⑂ 6 |
| 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 Justnote if
- You want the Justnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Justnote 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 Justnote
Justnote Justnote is a privacy focused note taking app that you can use easily, take notes rapidly, and, importantly, truly own your account and data. 🎨 Features End to end encryption with the decryption key only you know Available on the web, Android, and iOS Nested lists (folders), pin to the top, tags, lock lists & notes, and dark mode 📸 Screenshots 🖇️ More Links Support FAQs Documentation Blog 🤖 Tech Stack Web: React, Redux, TailwindCSS, Stacks, CKEditor Mobile: React Native 💻 Run Locally Clone the project Go to the web or mobile directory Install dependencies Start the server ❤️ Feedback and…
read the full Justnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Justnote more popular?
Joplin has 56,994 GitHub stars and Justnote has 67. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and Justnote free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and Justnote is licensed under GPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and Justnote?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and Justnote 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 Justnote?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,994 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Justnote if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.