head to head · open source
Notesnook vs MiaoYan
Notesnook has 14,883 GitHub stars, 1,045 forks, 1,012 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. MiaoYan has 8,719 stars, 522 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Notesnook leads on adoption by 71% (14,883 vs 8,719 stars). Notesnook is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; MiaoYan is written in Swift under MIT. Notesnook has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, MiaoYan 6%. Notesnook was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (notes-app), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Notesnook | MiaoYan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 8.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 522 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Notesnook if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick MiaoYan if
- You want the MiaoYan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and MiaoYan fits your workflow better
About Notesnook
Notesnook An end to end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote. Website About us Roadmap Downloads Twitter Discord Overview Notesnook is a free (as in speech) & open source note taking app focused on user privacy & ease of use. To ensure zero knowledge principles, Notesnook encrypts everything on your device using XChaCha20 Poly1305 & Argon2 . Notesnook is our proof that privacy does not (always) have to come at the cost of convenience. We aim to provide users peace of mind & 100% confidence that their notes are safe and secure. The decision to go fully open source is one of the most crucial steps towards…
read the full Notesnook overview →
About MiaoYan
English 简体中文 MiaoYan Lightweight Markdown note taking app for macOS Features Fantastic : Local first, no data collection, split editor & preview, wikilink backlinks, LaTeX, Mermaid Beautiful : Minimalist design, three column layout, dark mode, macOS 26 glass, distraction free Fast : Swift 6 native, better performance than Electron based apps Simple : Lightweight, version history, keyboard shortcuts, auto formatting Installation 1. Mac App Store (paid, automatic updates): 2. Homebrew : 3. GitHub Releases : download the latest DMG from GitHub Releases (macOS 11.5+) All three options share the same codebase and…
read the full MiaoYan overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Notesnook or MiaoYan more popular?
Notesnook has 14,883 GitHub stars and MiaoYan has 8,719. Notesnook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Notesnook and MiaoYan free?
Both are open source. Notesnook is licensed under GPL-3.0 and MiaoYan under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Notesnook and MiaoYan?
Notesnook is written in TypeScript and MiaoYan in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Notesnook or MiaoYan?
Choose Notesnook if you want the larger community (14,883 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose MiaoYan if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.