head to head · open source
Joplin vs Notesnook
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars, 6,296 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Notesnook has 14,604 stars, 1,007 forks, 1,012 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Joplin leads on adoption by 286% (56,416 vs 14,604 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Notesnook is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Notesnook 7%. Joplin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (electron, 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 | Notesnook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 15K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 Notesnook if
- You want the Notesnook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Notesnook 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 Notesnook
Notesnook is an open source, end to end encrypted note taking application in the productivity and knowledge management ecosystem. It is presented as a free alternative to Evernote, with clients for the web, desktop, and mobile platforms. The project uses a TypeScript and JavaScript monorepo, React for the interface, React Native for mobile apps, and Electron for the desktop app.
read the full Notesnook overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Notesnook more popular?
Joplin has 56,416 GitHub stars and Notesnook has 14,604. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and Notesnook free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and Notesnook is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and Notesnook?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and Notesnook 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 Notesnook?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,416 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Notesnook if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.