CherryTree vs Joplin
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?
Compare CherryTree with
choose an app… AppFlowy AFFiNE Memos Mark Text SiYuan Logseq Paperless-ngx Outline Trilium Notes TriliumNext Notes Khoj Notable Obsidian Notesnook VNote Laverna TiddlyWiki Reor nb Notes Markor Sync QOwnNotes TagSpaces Papra Mindforger Web Archivy Flatnotes Dnote Trilium Notes Next MindForger WizNote Zim QuillPad Beavers Notes Notesnook Sync Server OutWiker Tiddloid MyTetra WikidPad
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 Buku Athens Research org-roam Taskwarrior Markor Sync Livebook QOwnNotes SilverBullet TagSpaces Papra DokuWiki Mindforger Web 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 CherryTree Joplin Category Notes & Knowledge Base Notes & Knowledge Base License GPL-3.0 AGPL-3.0 Language C++ TypeScript Setup difficulty Easy Easy Min. RAM 128 MB 256 MB Deployment binary, source docker, bare-metal GitHub stars ★ 3,925 ★ 55,856 First released 2009 2017 Replaces OneNote, Evernote Evernote, OneNote
Why pick each one
Choose CherryTree if… Highly portable single-file notes Good for structured notes CherryTree details Choose Joplin if… Strong privacy with E2EE Flexible sync options Active development Joplin details
Frequently asked questions Is CherryTree 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 CherryTree and Joplin free and open-source? Yes. CherryTree is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Joplin under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CherryTree and Joplin with Docker? CherryTree: check the project docs for container support. Joplin: yes.