head to head · open source
Tolaria vs nocturne_memory
Tolaria has 19,852 GitHub stars, 1,382 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. nocturne_memory has 1,371 stars, 170 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tolaria leads on adoption by 1,348% (19,852 vs 1,371 stars). Tolaria is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; nocturne_memory is written in Python under MIT. Tolaria has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, nocturne_memory 12%. nocturne_memory 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
| Tolaria | nocturne_memory | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 170 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Tolaria if
- You weight community size — 20K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nocturne_memory if
- You want the nocturne_memory feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and nocturne_memory fits your workflow better
About Tolaria
Tolaria is an open source desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux, written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It manages markdown knowledge bases as local files, with each vault stored as a Git repository. The project lives in the personal knowledge management ecosystem as a local first, Git native tool for second brains, company documentation used as AI context, and assistant memory or procedures.
read the full Tolaria overview →
About nocturne_memory
Nocturne Memory is an MIT licensed, Python based Long Term Memory Server that speaks the Model Context Protocol, giving MCP capable agents persistent, structured, rollbackable memory across sessions, models and tools — built for anyone running Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Codex or another MCP client who is tired of an agent that forgets who it is.
read the full nocturne_memory overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Tolaria or nocturne_memory more popular?
Tolaria has 19,852 GitHub stars and nocturne_memory has 1,371. Tolaria has the larger community by that measure.
Are Tolaria and nocturne_memory free?
Both are open source. Tolaria is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and nocturne_memory under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Tolaria and nocturne_memory?
Tolaria is written in TypeScript and nocturne_memory 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, Tolaria or nocturne_memory?
Choose Tolaria if you want the larger community (19,852 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose nocturne_memory if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.