head to head · open source
Joplin vs MarkFlowy
Joplin has 56,433 GitHub stars, 6,297 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped today. MarkFlowy has 2,393 stars, 92 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 2,258% (56,433 vs 2,393 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; MarkFlowy is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, MarkFlowy 4%. 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 | MarkFlowy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 92 |
| 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 MarkFlowy if
- You want the MarkFlowy 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 MarkFlowy 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 MarkFlowy
MarkFlowy is a free, open source, cross platform desktop Markdown and text editor, built with Tauri, Rust and Prosemirror, for developers, writers and knowledge workers who want WYSIWYG or source mode editing of large documents with built in AI assistance.
read the full MarkFlowy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or MarkFlowy more popular?
Joplin has 56,433 GitHub stars and MarkFlowy has 2,393. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and MarkFlowy free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and MarkFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and MarkFlowy?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and MarkFlowy 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 MarkFlowy?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,433 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose MarkFlowy if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.