SHSelfHostIndex

Blinko vs Laverna

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 LA Laverna Markdown note-taking app with client-side encryption
FeatureBlinkoLaverna
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdockerbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 10,850★ 9,182
First released20242014
ReplacesGoogle Keep, MemosEvernote, Simplenote

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 Laverna if…

  • Strong privacy focus
  • No backend required
Laverna details

Frequently asked questions

Is Blinko or Laverna better?

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

Are Blinko and Laverna free and open-source?

Yes. Blinko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Laverna under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Blinko and Laverna with Docker?

Blinko: yes. Laverna: check the project docs for container support.

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