head to head · open source
Logseq vs Lorien
Logseq has 44,972 GitHub stars, 2,815 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lorien has 6,797 stars, 306 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 12 months ago. Logseq leads on adoption by 562% (44,972 vs 6,797 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; Lorien is written in GDScript under MIT. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Lorien 5%. 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 | Lorien | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Clojure | GDScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 306 |
| 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 Lorien if
- You want the Lorien feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches GDScript
- You evaluated both and Lorien 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 Lorien
Lorien is an infinite canvas drawing and whiteboarding application for Windows, Linux and macOS, built with the Godot game engine and aimed at people who want a fast, simple digital notebook for note taking, brainstorming and light diagramming.
read the full Lorien overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or Lorien more popular?
Logseq has 44,972 GitHub stars and Lorien has 6,797. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and Lorien free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Lorien under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and Lorien?
Logseq is written in Clojure and Lorien in GDScript. 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 Lorien?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (44,972 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Lorien if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.