head to head · open source
Memos vs Justnote
Memos has 63,129 GitHub stars, 4,766 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Justnote has 67 stars, 6 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. Memos leads on adoption by 94,122% (63,129 vs 67 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; Justnote is written in TypeScript under GPL-2.0. Memos has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Justnote 9%. 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 | Justnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 67 |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 6 |
| 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 Justnote if
- You want the Justnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Justnote 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 Justnote
Justnote is a GPL 2.0 licensed, privacy focused note taking app with web, Android, and iOS clients written in TypeScript, for anyone who wants to capture notes quickly while keeping real ownership of their account and data.
read the full Justnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or Justnote more popular?
Memos has 63,129 GitHub stars and Justnote has 67. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and Justnote free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT and Justnote under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Memos and Justnote?
Memos is written in Go and Justnote 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, Memos or Justnote?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,129 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Justnote if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.