head to head · open source
Logseq vs notes
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars, 2,866 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. notes has 4,263 stars, 385 forks, 137 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Logseq leads on adoption by 966% (45,460 vs 4,263 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; notes is written in C++ under MPL-2.0. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, notes 9%. Logseq was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (local-first, 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Logseq | notes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 4.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Clojure | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-05-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 385 |
| 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 notes if
- You want the notes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and notes 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 notes
Notes Notes is an open source and cross platform note taking app that is both beautiful and powerful. Website: notes foss.com Screenshots Features Overview Native app (written in C++ with Qt). Turn your Markdown tasks into a beautiful Kanban board. Fast and beautiful. Fully open source and cross platform (Linux, macOS, Windows). Completely private tracks nothing. Folders and tags. Organize your ideas hierarchically using nested folders and universally using tags. Markdown Support. Format text without lifting your hands from the keyboard. Different themes. Switch between Light, Dark, and Sepia. Feed View. Select…
read the full notes overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or notes more popular?
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars and notes has 4,263. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and notes free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and notes under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and notes?
Logseq is written in Clojure and notes in C++. 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 notes?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (45,460 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose notes if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.