Open source notes projects
Every project in the registry tagged notes, ranked by real GitHub adoption.
Docs, whiteboards, and databases in one privacy-first workspace
Zero-knowledge encrypted notes that sync across all devices
CLI and local web plain text note‑taking, bookmarking, and archiving with linking, tagging, filtering, search, Git versioning & syncing, Pandoc conversion, + mo
HedgeDoc - Ideas grow better together
Secure, encrypted notes for your digital life
A self-hosted, database-less note taking web app that utilises a flat folder of markdown files for storage.
📚 The open-source, offline-first Notion, Obsidian & Confluence alternative. Advanced Markdown, multi-tenant teams, OIDC/SSO, and local S3 backups. Deploy in on
Local-first notes app with no cloud, no AI, no tracking
Clean, distraction-free note-taking with local storage
Neovim plugin for zk
Beautiful Kanban boards with seamless payment integration
The Tangent monorepo.
Transcribe meetings and voice notes with local AI, no bots required
Self-hosted sticky notes with better organization
Related tags
Frequently asked questions
How many open source notes projects are there?
This registry tracks 19 projects tagged notes, with 142,189 GitHub stars between them. The most-adopted is Affine at 72,715 stars.
Are these notes projects free to use?
Yes — 18 of the 19 carry an explicit open-source licence across 4 distinct licences, so there is no licence fee. Where a project also sells a hosted or enterprise version, the self-hosted path remains free.
Which notes project should I choose?
The list above is ranked by GitHub stars, but stars measure attention rather than fit. Check three things on each card: the licence (permissive versus copyleft), the language it is written in, and the last-push date — a high-star project that has not been pushed in a year is a liability.
Are these notes projects still maintained?
19 of the 19 were pushed in the last 90 days, and every card shows its exact last-push date so you can see the rest. Sort your shortlist by that date before committing to a migration.