Blinko vs Mindwendel
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Blinko
Self-hosted personal note tool for capturing ideas
VS
Mindwendel
Self-hosted brainstorming and idea capture board
| Feature | Blinko | Mindwendel |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 71 · Good |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,035 | ★ 140 |
| First released | 2024 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Keep, Memos | Miro, Google Keep |
What are Blinko and Mindwendel?
Blinko
Blinko is an open-source, self-hosted note-taking application designed for quickly capturing thoughts and ideas as they occur. It stores notes with Markdown support and offers AI-assisted retrieval of past notes.
- Quick idea capture
- Markdown notes
- AI-powered retrieval
- Self-hosted privacy
Mindwendel
Mindwendel is an open-source, self-hosted application for brainstorming and capturing ideas as quick notes on shared boards. Teams use it to collect, group, and vote on ideas in real time.
- Shared brainstorming boards
- Real-time idea capture
- Grouping and voting
- Lightweight to host
Blinko vs Mindwendel: key differences
Blinko is written in TypeScript, while Mindwendel is built with Elixir. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Blinko versus Apache-2.0 for Mindwendel. Mindwendel is the more established project (first released 2021), while Blinko arrived in 2024. Blinko has the considerably larger community, at 11,035 GitHub stars versus 140.
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 11k GitHub stars
Choose Mindwendel if…
- Great for team idea sessions
- Simple and focused
Watch out for
- Not a general note app
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Blinko or Mindwendel better?
Blinko is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Mindwendel if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Blinko and Mindwendel free and open-source?
Yes. Blinko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mindwendel under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Blinko and Mindwendel with Docker?
Blinko: yes. Mindwendel: yes.