Buku vs Joplin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories
— licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one
replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Compare Buku with
choose an app… AppFlowy AFFiNE Memos Mark Text SiYuan RSSHub Logseq Outline Trilium Notes TriliumNext Notes Khoj Wiki.js Karakeep ArchiveBox Linkwarden Omnivore FreshRSS Wallabag Shiori Linkding Fluent Reader Miniflux RSS-Bridge Winds Floccus NewsBlur TagSpaces Stringer yarr Shaarli Newsboat Feedbin CommaFeed Pinry Archivy LittleLink Grimoire Promnesia Read-later nono Reminiscence Pinkary Self-Hosted Readeck Espial Bookmark dashboard nono Benotes Servas Firefox Account Server omnom GoSuki NeonLink Linka Bookmarks Manager 42links Digibunch SyncMarks
Compare Joplin with
choose an app… AppFlowy AFFiNE Memos Mark Text Plane SiYuan Logseq Paperless-ngx Outline Trilium Notes TriliumNext Notes Khoj Wiki.js Karakeep ArchiveBox Focalboard Notable Docmost Super Productivity Wekan Obsidian Linkwarden BookStack Foam Omnivore OpenProject Notesnook Habitica Self-Hosted Zettlr VNote Wallabag Planka Self-hosted LiveSync Shiori Leantime Linkding Blinko git-bug Kanboard Laverna TiddlyWiki Anytype Reor nb Notes Floccus Dillinger Kaneo Athens Research org-roam Taskwarrior Markor Sync Livebook QOwnNotes SilverBullet TagSpaces Papra DokuWiki Mindforger Web CherryTree Shaarli Pinry Archivy Flatnotes Dnote Trilium Notes Next NoteDiscovery MindForger WizNote BatNoter Zim Notea AppFlowy Cloud Jotty Atomic Server Knowledge RocketNotes QuillPad Beavers Notes Outline Desktop Writing Many Notes Notabase Notesnook Sync Server mdSilo Note Mark Turtl RedNotebook Tangent Notes DailyTxT TeamMapper Standard Notes OutWiker WiseMapping Tiddloid MyTetra WikidPad Mindwendel LibreKB Digimindmap memEx QST
Feature Buku Joplin Category Bookmarks & Read-It-Later Notes & Knowledge Base License GPL-3.0 AGPL-3.0 Language Python TypeScript Setup difficulty Easy Easy Min. RAM 64 MB 256 MB Deployment bare-metal, binary docker, bare-metal GitHub stars ★ 7,177 ★ 55,856 First released 2015 2017 Replaces Delicious Evernote, OneNote
Why pick each one
Choose Buku if… Scriptable and fast Portable database Lightweight Buku details Choose Joplin if… Strong privacy with E2EE Flexible sync options Active development Joplin details
Frequently asked questions Is Buku 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 Buku and Joplin free and open-source? Yes. Buku is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Joplin under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Buku and Joplin with Docker? Buku: check the project docs for container support. Joplin: yes.