head to head · open source
wiki vs NoteDiscovery
wiki has 29,128 GitHub stars, 3,335 forks, 182 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NoteDiscovery has 2,867 stars, 248 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. wiki leads on adoption by 916% (29,128 vs 2,867 stars). wiki is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript under MIT. wiki has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, NoteDiscovery 9%. NoteDiscovery 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
| wiki | NoteDiscovery | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 248 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick wiki if
- You weight community size — 29K 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 NoteDiscovery if
- You want the NoteDiscovery feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and NoteDiscovery fits your workflow better
About wiki
A modern, lightweight and powerful wiki app built on NodeJS Official Website Documentation Requirements Installation Demo Changelog Feature Requests Chat with us on Discord Translations (We need your help!) Special Thanks Contribute Follow our Twitter feed to learn about upcoming updates and new releases! Donate Wiki.js is an open source project that has been made possible due to the generous contributions by community backers. If you are interested in supporting this project, please consider becoming a sponsor, becoming a patron, donating to our OpenCollective, via Paypal or via Ethereum (
About NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery Your Self Hosted Knowledge Base What is NoteDiscovery? NoteDiscovery is a lightweight, self hosted note taking application that puts you in complete control of your knowledge base. Write, organize, and discover your notes with a beautiful, modern interface—all running on your own server. Write · Find · Discover 🎯 Who is it for? Privacy conscious users who want complete control over their data Developers who prefer markdown and local file storage Knowledge workers building a personal wiki or second brain Teams looking for a self hosted alternative to commercial apps Anyone who values simplicity…
read the full NoteDiscovery overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is wiki or NoteDiscovery more popular?
wiki has 29,128 GitHub stars and NoteDiscovery has 2,867. wiki has the larger community by that measure.
Are wiki and NoteDiscovery free?
Both are open source. wiki is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between wiki and NoteDiscovery?
wiki is written in TypeScript and NoteDiscovery 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, wiki or NoteDiscovery?
Choose wiki if you want the larger community (29,128 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose NoteDiscovery if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.