Athens Research vs Trilium Notes
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
Trilium Notes
Hierarchical note-taking for building knowledge bases
| Feature | Athens Research | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,299 | ★ 37,298 |
| First released | 2020 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Roam Research, Obsidian | Evernote, Notion |
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 Trilium Notes if…
- Powerful for big knowledge bases
- Flexible structure
- Scriptable
Frequently asked questions
Is Athens Research or Trilium Notes better?
Trilium Notes 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 Trilium Notes free and open-source?
Yes. Athens Research is licensed under EPL-1.0 and Trilium Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Athens Research and Trilium Notes with Docker?
Athens Research: yes. Trilium Notes: yes.