head to head · open source
Memos vs dnote
Memos has 63,234 GitHub stars, 4,773 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dnote has 3,083 stars, 124 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Memos leads on adoption by 1,951% (63,234 vs 3,083 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; dnote is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Memos has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, dnote 4%. Memos 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
| Memos | dnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-22 | 2026-07-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 124 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Memos if
- You weight community size — 63K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dnote if
- You want the dnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and dnote fits your workflow better
About Memos
Memos is an open source, self hosted note taking tool designed for rapid capture of short form content like daily logs, links, code snippets, and microblog style entries. It lives in the Go ecosystem and uses a Markdown native, timeline based interface. Unlike traditional note apps that enforce folders or rigid templates, Memos prioritizes speed and simplicity: users write in Markdown, attach media, and save without selecting titles or locations.
read the full Memos overview →
About dnote
Dnote is a free, open source, single binary command line notebook for developers who want their notes kept as plain files they own rather than inside a proprietary hosted service.
read the full dnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or dnote more popular?
Memos has 63,234 GitHub stars and dnote has 3,083. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and dnote free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT and dnote under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Memos and dnote?
Memos is written in Go and dnote in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Memos or dnote?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,234 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose dnote if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.