head to head · open source
Joplin vs pm-brain
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars, 6,297 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pm-brain has 868 stars, 171 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Joplin leads on adoption by 6,401% (56,429 vs 868 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; pm-brain is written in Python under MIT. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, pm-brain 20%. 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 | pm-brain | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 868 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 171 |
| 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 pm-brain if
- You want the pm-brain feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pm-brain 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 pm-brain
PM Brain is an MIT licensed Claude Code skill that gives a product manager a second brain made of plain markdown files in a local folder, which Claude reads before answering, writes to after, and sweeps every Friday.
read the full pm-brain overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or pm-brain more popular?
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars and pm-brain has 868. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and pm-brain free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and pm-brain is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and pm-brain?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and pm-brain in Python. 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 pm-brain?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,429 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose pm-brain if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.