Athens Research vs SilverBullet
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Athens Research
Open-source networked note-taking and knowledge graph
VS
SilverBullet
Hackable note-taking for the self-hosted web
| Feature | Athens Research | SilverBullet |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | EPL-1.0 | MIT |
| Language | Clojure | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,299 | ★ 5,796 |
| First released | 2020 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Roam Research, Obsidian | Notion, Obsidian |
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Athens Research or SilverBullet better?
Neither is universally better. Athens Research has the larger community, while SilverBullet is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Athens Research and SilverBullet free and open-source?
Yes. Athens Research is licensed under EPL-1.0 and SilverBullet under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Athens Research and SilverBullet with Docker?
Athens Research: yes. SilverBullet: yes.