head to head · open source
Joplin vs NotelyVoice
Joplin has 56,475 GitHub stars, 6,300 forks, 642 open issues and last shipped today. NotelyVoice has 793 stars, 74 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 7,022% (56,475 vs 793 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; NotelyVoice is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, NotelyVoice 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 (android), 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 | NotelyVoice | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 793 |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-08-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 74 |
| 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 NotelyVoice if
- You want the NotelyVoice feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and NotelyVoice 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 NotelyVoice
NotelyVoice is a free, open source, cross platform voice transcription and note taking application for Android and iOS that converts speech to text in more than 100 languages entirely on device using OpenAI Whisper, built for students capturing lectures, professionals documenting meetings, doctors recording patient notes, and researchers transcribing interviews.
read the full NotelyVoice overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or NotelyVoice more popular?
Joplin has 56,475 GitHub stars and NotelyVoice has 793. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and NotelyVoice free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and NotelyVoice is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and NotelyVoice?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and NotelyVoice in C++. 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 NotelyVoice?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,475 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose NotelyVoice if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.