head to head · open source
Joplin vs vnote
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars, 6,297 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vnote has 12,963 stars, 1,298 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Joplin leads on adoption by 335% (56,429 vs 12,963 stars). Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; vnote is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0. Joplin has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, vnote 10%. 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 | vnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 56K | ★ 13K |
| License | Custom / other | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 vnote if
- You want the vnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and vnote 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 vnote
VNote is a Qt based, free and open source note taking application written in native C++, focused on Markdown and aimed at anyone who wants structured note management and a strong editing experience instead of a bare Markdown text editor.
read the full vnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or vnote more popular?
Joplin has 56,429 GitHub stars and vnote has 12,963. Joplin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Joplin and vnote free?
Both are open source. Joplin has no licence declared in this registry, and vnote is licensed under LGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Joplin and vnote?
Joplin is written in TypeScript and vnote 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 vnote?
Choose Joplin if you want the larger community (56,429 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose vnote if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.