SHSelfHostIndex

Blinko vs Joplin

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?
BL Blinko Self-hosted personal note tool for capturing ideas VS JO Joplin Open-source note-taking and to-do app with sync
FeatureBlinkoJoplin
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 10,850★ 55,856
First released20242017
ReplacesGoogle Keep, MemosEvernote, OneNote

Why pick each one

Choose Blinko if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 10.8k GitHub stars
Blinko details

Choose Joplin if…

  • Strong privacy with E2EE
  • Flexible sync options
  • Active development
Joplin details

Frequently asked questions

Is Blinko or Joplin better?

Neither is universally better. Joplin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Blinko and Joplin free and open-source?

Yes. Blinko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Joplin under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Blinko and Joplin with Docker?

Blinko: yes. Joplin: yes.

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