head to head · open source
Tolaria vs vnote
Tolaria has 19,834 GitHub stars, 1,380 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. vnote has 12,964 stars, 1,298 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tolaria leads on adoption by 53% (19,834 vs 12,964 stars). Tolaria is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; vnote is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0. Tolaria has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, vnote 10%. vnote 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 | vnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 13K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 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 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 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 Tolaria or vnote more popular?
Tolaria has 19,834 GitHub stars and vnote has 12,964. Tolaria has the larger community by that measure.
Are Tolaria and vnote free?
Both are open source. Tolaria is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and vnote under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Tolaria and vnote?
Tolaria is written in TypeScript 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, Tolaria or vnote?
Choose Tolaria if you want the larger community (19,834 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose vnote if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.