head to head · open source
QOwnNotes vs brain.md
QOwnNotes has 5,886 GitHub stars, 500 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped yesterday. brain.md has 553 stars, 51 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. QOwnNotes leads on adoption by 964% (5,886 vs 553 stars). QOwnNotes is written in C++ under GPL-2.0; brain.md is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. QOwnNotes has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, brain.md 9%. QOwnNotes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (markdown), 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
| QOwnNotes | brain.md | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.9K | ★ 553 |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 500 | ⑂ 51 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick QOwnNotes if
- You weight community size — 5.9K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick brain.md if
- You want the brain.md feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and brain.md fits your workflow better
About QOwnNotes
QOwnNotes is a GPL 2.0 licensed, C++ plain text notepad and todo list manager with Markdown support for GNU/Linux, macOS and Windows that stores every note as a Markdown file and pairs with Nextcloud or ownCloud so the same notes stay readable on mobile and in the web service.
read the full QOwnNotes overview →
About brain.md
brain.md is an open, agent agnostic, file based memory layer for coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex, distributed as a zero dependency JavaScript CLI under the Apache 2.0 licence, and it is aimed at developers and teams who want a project's durable decisions, requirements and constraints to survive beyond a single chat session.
read the full brain.md overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is QOwnNotes or brain.md more popular?
QOwnNotes has 5,886 GitHub stars and brain.md has 553. QOwnNotes has the larger community by that measure.
Are QOwnNotes and brain.md free?
Both are open source. QOwnNotes is licensed under GPL-2.0 and brain.md under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between QOwnNotes and brain.md?
QOwnNotes is written in C++ and brain.md in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, QOwnNotes or brain.md?
Choose QOwnNotes if you want the larger community (5,886 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose brain.md if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.