Boost Note vs Khoj
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Khoj
Self-hostable AI assistant over your personal notes
| Feature | Boost Note | Khoj |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 94 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,046 | ★ 37,485 |
| First released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Evernote | Notion AI, Evernote |
What are Boost Note and Khoj?
Boost Note
Boost Note is an open-source note-taking app aimed at developers, with Markdown editing, code snippet notes, tagging, and syntax highlighting. Notes are stored as files. The upstream app repository is archived and no longer actively developed.
- Markdown and snippet notes
- Tag-based organization
- File-based storage
- Code syntax highlighting
Khoj
Khoj is an open-source, self-hostable AI application that lets you search and chat with your notes, documents, and knowledge base. It connects to Markdown, Org-mode, PDF, and other personal data sources.
- AI chat over personal notes
- Semantic search across documents
- Connects many data sources
- Self-hostable
Boost Note vs Khoj: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Boost Note's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Khoj is actively maintained. Boost Note is written in TypeScript, while Khoj is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Boost Note versus AGPL-3.0 for Khoj. Boost Note is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Khoj. Boost Note is the more established project (first released 2016), while Khoj arrived in 2021. Khoj has the considerably larger community, at 37,485 GitHub stars versus 4,046. Khoj lists first-class Docker deployment; Boost Note does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Boost Note if…
- Developer-friendly
- Files you control
Watch out for
- Project direction shifted
- No first-party server
Choose Khoj if…
- Turns notes into an AI knowledge base
- Supports local LLMs
Watch out for
- Higher resource needs
- Setup more involved
Frequently asked questions
Is Boost Note or Khoj better?
Neither is universally better. Khoj has the larger community, while Boost Note is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Boost Note and Khoj free and open-source?
Yes. Boost Note is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Khoj under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Boost Note and Khoj with Docker?
Boost Note: check the project docs for container support. Khoj: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Boost Note or Khoj?
Boost Note has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Khoj. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.