head to head · open source
Joplin vs Lorien
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars, 6,297 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lorien has 6,797 stars, 306 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 12 months ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 730% (56,429 vs 6,797 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Lorien is written in GDScript under MIT. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Lorien 5%. 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 | Lorien | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | GDScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 306 |
| 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 Lorien if
- You want the Lorien feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches GDScript
- You evaluated both and Lorien 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 Lorien
Lorien is an infinite canvas drawing and whiteboarding application for Windows, Linux and macOS, built with the Godot game engine and aimed at people who want a fast, simple digital notebook for note taking, brainstorming and light diagramming.
read the full Lorien overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Lorien more popular?
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars and Lorien has 6,797. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and Lorien free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and Lorien is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and Lorien?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and Lorien in GDScript. 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 Lorien?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,429 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Lorien if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.