head to head · open source
Memos vs vnote
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars, 4,769 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vnote has 12,963 stars, 1,298 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Memos leads on adoption by 387% (63,155 vs 12,963 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; vnote is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0. Memos has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, vnote 10%. 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 | vnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 vnote if
- You want the vnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and vnote 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 vnote
VNote is a Qt based, free and open source note taking application written in native C++, focused on Markdown and aimed at anyone who wants structured note management and a strong editing experience instead of a bare Markdown text editor.
read the full vnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or vnote more popular?
Memos has 63,155 GitHub stars and vnote has 12,963. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and vnote free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT and vnote under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Memos and vnote?
Memos is written in Go and vnote in C++. 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 vnote?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,155 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose vnote if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.