head to head · open source
Memos vs Lorien
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars, 4,769 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lorien has 6,797 stars, 306 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 12 months ago. Memos leads on adoption by 829% (63,155 vs 6,797 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; Lorien is written in GDScript under MIT. Memos has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Lorien 5%. 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 | Lorien | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | GDScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 306 |
| 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 Lorien if
- You want the Lorien feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches GDScript
- You evaluated both and Lorien 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 Lorien
Lorien is an infinite canvas drawing and whiteboarding application for Windows, Linux and macOS, built with the Godot game engine and aimed at people who want a fast, simple digital notebook for note taking, brainstorming and light diagramming.
read the full Lorien overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or Lorien more popular?
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars and Lorien has 6,797. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and Lorien free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT and Lorien under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Memos and Lorien?
Memos is written in Go and Lorien in GDScript. 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 Lorien?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,155 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Lorien if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.