head to head · open source
Memos vs GitJournal
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars, 4,769 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GitJournal has 4,224 stars, 309 forks, 132 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Memos leads on adoption by 1,395% (63,155 vs 4,224 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; GitJournal is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0. Memos has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, GitJournal 7%. Memos was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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.
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Side by side
| Memos | GitJournal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 309 |
| 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 GitJournal if
- You want the GitJournal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and GitJournal 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 GitJournal
GitJournal is a mobile first, privacy focused Markdown note taking app that stores every note in a Git repository of the user's choosing, built for people who want their writing to stay portable and version controlled instead of locked inside a proprietary sync service.
read the full GitJournal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or GitJournal more popular?
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars and GitJournal has 4,224. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and GitJournal free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT and GitJournal under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Memos and GitJournal?
Memos is written in Go and GitJournal in Dart. 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 GitJournal?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,155 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose GitJournal if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.