Boost Note vs Notable
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Boost Note | Notable |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 28 · At risk |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,046 | ★ 23,496 |
| First released | 2016 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Evernote | Evernote, Notion |
What are Boost Note and Notable?
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
Notable
Notable is a note-taking application that stores notes as plain Markdown files on disk. It offers a clean editor, tags, and full-text search while keeping all data in portable files.
- Plain Markdown file storage
- Tag-based organization
- Full-text search
- Clean editor
Boost Note vs Notable: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Boost Note's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Notable is actively maintained. Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Boost Note versus AGPL-3.0 for Notable. Boost Note is the more established project (first released 2016), while Notable arrived in 2018. Notable has the considerably larger community, at 23,496 GitHub stars versus 4,046.
Why pick each one
Choose Boost Note if…
- Developer-friendly
- Files you control
Watch out for
- Project direction shifted
- No first-party server
Choose Notable if…
- Notes stay as portable files
- Simple and focused
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Desktop only
Frequently asked questions
Is Boost Note or Notable better?
Neither is universally better. Notable has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Boost Note and Notable free and open-source?
Yes. Boost Note is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Notable under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Boost Note and Notable with Docker?
Boost Note: check the project docs for container support. Notable: check the project docs for container support.