head to head · open source
Memos vs pm-brain
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars, 4,769 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pm-brain has 868 stars, 171 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Memos leads on adoption by 7,176% (63,155 vs 868 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; pm-brain is written in Python under MIT. Memos has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, pm-brain 20%. Memos was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | pm-brain | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 868 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 171 |
| 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 pm-brain if
- You want the pm-brain feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pm-brain 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 pm-brain
PM Brain is an MIT licensed Claude Code skill that gives a product manager a second brain made of plain markdown files in a local folder, which Claude reads before answering, writes to after, and sweeps every Friday.
read the full pm-brain overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or pm-brain more popular?
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars and pm-brain has 868. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and pm-brain free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT and pm-brain under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Memos and pm-brain?
Memos is written in Go and pm-brain in Python. 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 pm-brain?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,155 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pm-brain if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.