Bangle.io vs NoteDiscovery
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
NoteDiscovery
Self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with graph view
| Feature | Bangle.io | NoteDiscovery |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,231 | ★ 2,812 |
| First released | 2021 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Notion, Obsidian | Obsidian, Notion |
What are Bangle.io and NoteDiscovery?
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
NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery is a self-hosted Markdown knowledge base featuring wikilinks, a graph view, a drawing editor, and LaTeX and Mermaid rendering. It is designed for building and exploring a connected personal knowledge base.
- Wikilinks and graph view
- Drawing editor
- LaTeX and Mermaid support
- Self-hosted knowledge base
Bangle.io vs NoteDiscovery: key differences
Bangle.io is written in TypeScript, while NoteDiscovery is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Bangle.io versus MIT for NoteDiscovery. Bangle.io is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for NoteDiscovery. Bangle.io is the more established project (first released 2021), while NoteDiscovery arrived in 2024. NoteDiscovery has the considerably larger community, at 2,812 GitHub stars versus 1,231.
Why pick each one
Choose Bangle.io if…
- Owns your files
- No server required
Watch out for
- Browser storage limits
- Small plugin ecosystem
Choose NoteDiscovery if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Bangle.io or NoteDiscovery better?
Neither is universally better. NoteDiscovery 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 Bangle.io and NoteDiscovery free and open-source?
Yes. Bangle.io is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bangle.io and NoteDiscovery with Docker?
Bangle.io: yes. NoteDiscovery: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Bangle.io or NoteDiscovery?
Bangle.io has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for NoteDiscovery. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.