Dendron vs zk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Dendron
Hierarchical note-taking and personal knowledge wiki
VS
zk
Plain-text note-taking and Zettelkasten assistant
| Feature | Dendron | zk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,458 | ★ 2,748 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Notion, Confluence | Roam Research, Obsidian |
Why pick each one
Choose Dendron if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 7.5k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose zk if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Dendron or zk better?
Neither is universally better. Dendron has the larger community, while zk is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dendron and zk free and open-source?
Yes. Dendron is licensed under GPL-3.0 and zk under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dendron and zk with Docker?
Dendron: check the project docs for container support. zk: check the project docs for container support.