head to head · open source
vnote vs iwe
vnote has 12,976 GitHub stars, 1,298 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped today. iwe has 1,703 stars, 86 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. vnote leads on adoption by 662% (12,976 vs 1,703 stars). vnote is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0; iwe is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. vnote has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, iwe 5%. vnote 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
| vnote | iwe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-22 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 86 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vnote if
- You weight community size — 13K stars and counting
- You want the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick iwe if
- You want the iwe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and iwe fits your workflow better
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 →
About iwe
IWE is a local first Rust tool that turns a directory of Markdown files into a knowledge graph, serving the same notes to your editor through a language server and to AI agents through a CLI and MCP server — it is built for anyone who wants database style queries over plain notes they continue to own.
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Frequently asked questions
Is vnote or iwe more popular?
vnote has 12,976 GitHub stars and iwe has 1,703. vnote has the larger community by that measure.
Are vnote and iwe free?
Both are open source. vnote is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and iwe under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vnote and iwe?
vnote is written in C++ and iwe in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, vnote or iwe?
Choose vnote if you want the larger community (12,976 stars) or its LGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose iwe if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.