Athens Research vs Bangle.io
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Athens Research | Bangle.io |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 22 · At risk | 79 · Good |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | EPL-1.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Clojure | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,298 | ★ 1,231 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Roam Research, Obsidian | Notion, Obsidian |
What are Athens Research and Bangle.io?
Athens Research
Athens is an open-source knowledge graph and networked note-taking tool inspired by Roam Research, supporting block references and bidirectional links. It can be self-hosted with a multiplayer server for shared knowledge bases.
- Block references
- Bidirectional links
- Multiplayer self-hosting
- Knowledge graph view
Bangle.io
Bangle.io is a local-first web app for taking Markdown notes. It stores notes in the browser or a local folder via the file system API, supports WYSIWYG-style editing and backlinks, and works fully offline without a server.
- Local-first Markdown notes
- WYSIWYG editing
- Backlinks and tags
- Works offline in browser
Athens Research vs Bangle.io: key differences
Athens Research is written in Clojure, while Bangle.io is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — EPL-1.0 for Athens Research versus AGPL-3.0 for Bangle.io. Bangle.io is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Athens Research. Athens Research has the considerably larger community, at 6,298 GitHub stars versus 1,231.
Why pick each one
Choose Athens Research if…
- Released under the EPL-1.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Clojure
Choose Bangle.io if…
- Owns your files
- No server required
Watch out for
- Browser storage limits
- Small plugin ecosystem
Frequently asked questions
Is Athens Research or Bangle.io better?
Neither is universally better. Athens Research has the larger community, while Bangle.io is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Athens Research and Bangle.io free and open-source?
Yes. Athens Research is licensed under EPL-1.0 and Bangle.io under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Athens Research and Bangle.io with Docker?
Athens Research: yes. Bangle.io: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Athens Research or Bangle.io?
Bangle.io has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Athens Research. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.