CherryTree vs Outline
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 Joplin SiYuan Logseq Paperless-ngx 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 Outline with
choose an app… AppFlowy AFFiNE Docusaurus Memos Mark Text Joplin Plane SiYuan Logseq Trilium Notes TriliumNext Notes Khoj Wiki.js Karakeep ArchiveBox Focalboard Notable MkDocs Docmost Super Productivity Wekan Obsidian Linkwarden BookStack Foam Docs by Suite Numerique Omnivore OpenProject Answer Notesnook Gollum Habitica Self-Hosted Zettlr Quartz VNote Wallabag MarkText Workspace Planka Self-hosted LiveSync Shiori Leantime Linkding Blinko git-bug Kanboard Laverna TiddlyWiki Anytype Reor Read the Docs nb Notes Floccus Dillinger Kaneo Dendron Buku Athens Research org-roam Taskwarrior Markor Sync Livebook QOwnNotes SilverBullet TagSpaces MediaWiki DokuWiki Mindforger Web Shaarli Pinry MDwiki Flatnotes Dnote Trilium Notes Next Raneto NoteDiscovery MindForger WizNote BatNoter Documize Community Notea AppFlowy Cloud Jotty Django Wiki ZenTao Atomic Server Otter Wiki Knowledge RocketNotes QuillPad Beavers Notes XWiki Outline Desktop Writing Many Notes LeafWiki Notabase Notesnook Sync Server mdSilo Daux.io Realms Wiki Note Mark Turtl RedNotebook Tangent Notes DailyTxT TeamMapper Standard Notes WiseMapping MyTetra Mindwendel LibreKB Digimindmap memEx QST
Feature CherryTree Outline Category Notes & Knowledge Base Notes & Knowledge Base License GPL-3.0 BSL-1.1 Language C++ TypeScript Setup difficulty Easy Medium Min. RAM 128 MB 1,024 MB Deployment binary, source docker GitHub stars ★ 3,925 ★ 40,034 First released 2009 2017 Replaces OneNote, Evernote Notion, Confluence
Why pick each one
Choose CherryTree if… Highly portable single-file notes Good for structured notes CherryTree details Choose Outline if… Polished team wiki Great search Strong integrations Outline details
Frequently asked questions Is CherryTree or Outline better? Neither is universally better. Outline has the larger community, while CherryTree is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are CherryTree and Outline free and open-source? Yes. CherryTree is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Outline under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CherryTree and Outline with Docker? CherryTree: check the project docs for container support. Outline: yes.