Open source zettelkasten projects
Every project in the registry tagged zettelkasten, ranked by real GitHub adoption.
A plain text note-taking assistant
Neovim plugin for zk
Zettelkasten environment for productive people
Frequently asked questions
How many open source zettelkasten projects are there?
This registry tracks 3 projects tagged zettelkasten, with 4,287 GitHub stars between them. The most-adopted is zk at 2,867 stars.
Are these zettelkasten projects free to use?
Yes — 3 of the 3 carry an explicit open-source licence across 1 distinct licence, so there is no licence fee. Where a project also sells a hosted or enterprise version, the self-hosted path remains free.
Which zettelkasten 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 zettelkasten projects still maintained?
3 of the 3 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.