head to head · open source
Logseq vs fsnotes
Logseq has 44,972 GitHub stars, 2,815 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fsnotes has 7,494 stars, 578 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Logseq leads on adoption by 500% (44,972 vs 7,494 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; fsnotes is written in Swift under MIT. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, fsnotes 8%. fsnotes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (markdown, 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 | fsnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 7.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Clojure | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 578 |
| 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 fsnotes if
- You want the fsnotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and fsnotes 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 fsnotes
FSNotes is a fast, native Markdown and plain text note taking app for macOS and iOS, written in Swift 5 and released under the MIT licence, built for people who want their notes kept as portable files rather than inside a proprietary database.
read the full fsnotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or fsnotes more popular?
Logseq has 44,972 GitHub stars and fsnotes has 7,494. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and fsnotes free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and fsnotes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and fsnotes?
Logseq is written in Clojure and fsnotes in Swift. 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 fsnotes?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (44,972 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose fsnotes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.