head to head · open source
Logseq vs itsnotes
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars, 2,866 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. itsnotes has 43 stars, 5 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Logseq leads on adoption by 105,621% (45,460 vs 43 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 12%. 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 | ★ 43 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Clojure | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 5 |
| 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 A privacy first, open source platform for knowledge management and collaboration Home Page Blog Documentation Roadmap Table of Contents 🚀 Database Version 🤔 Why Logseq? 👀 How can I use it? 📚 Learn more 🫶 Support Logseq Development 💡 Feature requests 🔌 Plugin API 🌟 Contributing to Logseq 🛠️ Setting Up a Development Environment ✨ Inspiration 🙏 Thank You 🚀 Database Version The Database version (DB version) of Logseq introduces DB graphs. See this page to get an overview of the main features for DB graphs. If you are an existing user, see changes with the DB version. The DB version has its own new…
read the full Logseq overview →
About itsnotes
itsnotes A self hosted Google Keep alternative. It sticks to the familiar masonry layout but overhauls how you actually navigate and organize a large amount of notes. Instead of an endless wall of text, the feed is broken down by month markers. There are quick search panels for colors and tags, a basic folder implementation, and a proper list view. It also handles data import natively, so moving off Keep or importing text files is straightforward. Try the demo → Features: Better navigation: The timeline has month markers to break up the list. There are quick access panels for colors, tags, saved searches, and a…
read the full itsnotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or itsnotes more popular?
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars and itsnotes has 43. 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 (45,460 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose itsnotes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.