WizNote

Last reviewed Sep 13, 2026 · 762 words

WizNote is open source in the way that matters least to a self-hoster. The GitHub repository behind the 2,662 stars is WizQTClient, the desktop app, under GPL-3.0. The thing you would actually host, the sync server, ships as a Docker image called wiznote/wizserver whose source is not published. You can run it on your own hardware, and it works, but you are running a vendor binary from a Beijing company, and the documentation for it is written for that company's home market first. If that is acceptable, read on; if "open-source server" was the requirement, Joplin is the shorter answer.

What the repository actually is

WizQTClient is a C++ and Qt notes client for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with a rich-text editor, Markdown support, attachments, folder and tag organisation, and note history. It has been around since 2011, which shows in both directions: it is stable and full-featured, and its interface belongs to an earlier era of desktop software. The mobile apps for iOS and Android are separate, closed, and published by the company. So the honest map is: one GPL desktop client you can build yourself, closed mobile clients, and a closed server you can self-host.

That arrangement is not unusual for Chinese productivity software, and it is the same shape SiYuan started from before opening more of its stack. The difference is that SiYuan's sync is optional, while WizNote is built around a server.

Running the server takes 5 minutes and one Chinese web page

The install is genuinely simple. One container, one storage volume, port 80 for the web client and API:

docker run -d --name wiz \
  -v /srv/wiz/storage:/wiz/storage \
  -p 80:80 \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  wiznote/wizserver

Open the web client, register an account, then point each desktop and mobile client at your server address in the login screen's server setting instead of the default cloud. The catalogue's 512 MB minimum is about right for a couple of users; the image bundles its own database, so there is nothing else to provision.

What is missing is English documentation for anything past that point: user limits on the free self-hosted tier, backup procedure, and upgrade notes are best understood from the Chinese docs at wiz.cn, with a translator open in the next tab. Backup is at least easy to reason about, because everything is under /wiz/storage; stop the container, copy the directory, start it again.

The clients are the reason anyone bothers

WizNote's pitch is Evernote-shaped: notes with real formatting and attachments, a web clipper, folders plus tags, and clients that have had a decade to get comfortable. Sync is fast and conflict handling is sane. If you are moving from Evernote or OneNote and want the same mental model on your own server, the Evernote alternatives page puts WizNote in that context. Markdown people will find the editor's Markdown mode serviceable rather than delightful.

Who runs it in 2026: Chinese-speaking users for whom the documentation gap does not exist, people with a decade of WizNote history who want to leave the vendor cloud without leaving the app, and small teams who liked the sharing model. Outside those groups, the fit is weak.

Joplin, Trilium, and SiYuan for comparison

Joplin is fully open end to end, syncs through WebDAV or Nextcloud with no vendor server at all, and has the largest community in the notes category. Trilium has an open server and a hierarchical model that suits knowledge bases. SiYuan is the closest cultural match, with Chinese-first docs but an open desktop app and a block-based editor that is more modern than WizNote's. The notes apps you own post ranks these on the "who holds your data" axis, and WizNote lands in the middle: your notes are on your disk, in a format you can export, inside a server you cannot inspect.

What I'd do

Run WizNote's server only if you already use WizNote and want the cloud out of the loop; the Docker install is a 5-minute job and the storage directory is easy to back up. For a fresh start, pick Joplin with a Nextcloud or WebDAV sync target, or Trilium if you want a server with a web UI. The client here is fine and free; the server is a convenience the company lets you host, not a project you can maintain if they stop.