head to head · open source
Logseq vs dnote
Logseq has 44,992 GitHub stars, 2,820 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dnote has 3,083 stars, 124 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Logseq leads on adoption by 1,359% (44,992 vs 3,083 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; dnote is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, dnote 4%. Logseq 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
| Logseq | dnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Clojure | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-07-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 124 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Logseq if
- You weight community size — 45K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Clojure
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dnote if
- You want the dnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and dnote fits your workflow better
About Logseq
Logseq is an open source, privacy first knowledge management platform built for local first workflows. It runs as a desktop application and web interface, storing data locally in Markdown or Org mode files, with optional SQLite backed DB graphs for advanced features. The project lives in the Clojure/ClojureScript ecosystem and is licensed under AGPL 3.0.
read the full Logseq overview →
About dnote
Dnote is a free, open source, single binary command line notebook for developers who want their notes kept as plain files they own rather than inside a proprietary hosted service.
read the full dnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or dnote more popular?
Logseq has 44,992 GitHub stars and dnote has 3,083. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and dnote free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and dnote under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and dnote?
Logseq is written in Clojure and dnote in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Logseq or dnote?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (44,992 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose dnote if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.