head to head · open source
Logseq vs itsnotes
Logseq has 44,955 GitHub stars, 2,815 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped yesterday. itsnotes has 32 stars, 3 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. Logseq leads on adoption by 140,384% (44,955 vs 32 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; itsnotes is written in JavaScript under MIT. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, itsnotes 9%. 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 | itsnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 32 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Clojure | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 3 |
| 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 itsnotes if
- You want the itsnotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and itsnotes 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 itsnotes
itsnotes is a self hosted, MIT licensed Google Keep replacement — built with React, Node.js, PostgreSQL and Socket.io — for people who like the sticky note masonry layout but need better navigation and organization, and who want their notes to stay on their own hardware.
read the full itsnotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or itsnotes more popular?
Logseq has 44,955 GitHub stars and itsnotes has 32. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and itsnotes free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and itsnotes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and itsnotes?
Logseq is written in Clojure and itsnotes in JavaScript. 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 itsnotes?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (44,955 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose itsnotes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.