Athens Research vs Foam
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 | Foam |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 22 · At risk | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | EPL-1.0 | MIT |
| Language | Clojure | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,298 | ★ 17,415 |
| First released | 2020 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Roam Research, Obsidian | Roam Research, Obsidian |
What are Athens Research and Foam?
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
Foam
Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system built as a set of extensions and conventions for Visual Studio Code. It turns a folder of Markdown files into a linked, navigable knowledge base.
- Wiki-style links
- Graph visualization
- Plain Markdown files
- VS Code integration
Athens Research vs Foam: key differences
Athens Research is written in Clojure, while Foam is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — EPL-1.0 for Athens Research versus MIT for Foam. Foam is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Athens Research. Foam has the considerably larger community, at 17,415 GitHub stars versus 6,298. Athens Research lists first-class Docker deployment; Foam does not.
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 Foam if…
- Plain Markdown files
- Graph visualization included
- Git-friendly by design
Watch out for
- Requires VS Code
- Less polished than Obsidian
Frequently asked questions
Is Athens Research or Foam better?
Foam is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Athens Research if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Athens Research and Foam free and open-source?
Yes. Athens Research is licensed under EPL-1.0 and Foam under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Athens Research and Foam with Docker?
Athens Research: yes. Foam: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Athens Research or Foam?
Foam has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Athens Research. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.