head to head · open source
Logseq vs Notesnook
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars, 2,866 forks, 942 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Notesnook has 14,875 stars, 1,042 forks, 1,012 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Logseq leads on adoption by 206% (45,460 vs 14,875 stars). Logseq is written in Clojure under AGPL-3.0; Notesnook is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Logseq has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Notesnook 7%. Notesnook 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 | Notesnook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 15K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Clojure | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 Notesnook if
- You want the Notesnook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Notesnook 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 Notesnook
Notesnook An end to end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote. Website About us Roadmap Downloads Twitter Discord Overview Notesnook is a free (as in speech) & open source note taking app focused on user privacy & ease of use. To ensure zero knowledge principles, Notesnook encrypts everything on your device using XChaCha20 Poly1305 & Argon2 . Notesnook is our proof that privacy does not (always) have to come at the cost of convenience. We aim to provide users peace of mind & 100% confidence that their notes are safe and secure. The decision to go fully open source is one of the most crucial steps towards…
read the full Notesnook overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logseq or Notesnook more popular?
Logseq has 45,460 GitHub stars and Notesnook has 14,875. Logseq has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logseq and Notesnook free?
Both are open source. Logseq is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Notesnook under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logseq and Notesnook?
Logseq is written in Clojure and Notesnook in TypeScript. 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 Notesnook?
Choose Logseq if you want the larger community (45,460 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Notesnook if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.