Dnote vs Khoj
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Khoj
Self-hostable AI assistant over your personal notes
| Feature | Dnote | Khoj |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 78 · Good | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,084 | ★ 37,485 |
| First released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Simplenote | Notion AI, Evernote |
What are Dnote and Khoj?
Dnote
Dnote is an open-source, simple command-line notebook for programmers and terminal users. It captures quick notes without breaking focus and can sync through a self-hostable server.
- Command-line note capture
- Self-hostable sync server
- Browser extension
- Spaced-repetition digests
Khoj
Khoj is an open-source, self-hostable AI application that lets you search and chat with your notes, documents, and knowledge base. It connects to Markdown, Org-mode, PDF, and other personal data sources.
- AI chat over personal notes
- Semantic search across documents
- Connects many data sources
- Self-hostable
Dnote vs Khoj: key differences
Dnote is written in Go, while Khoj is built with Python. Dnote is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Khoj. Dnote is the more established project (first released 2017), while Khoj arrived in 2021. Khoj has the considerably larger community, at 37,485 GitHub stars versus 3,084.
Why pick each one
Choose Dnote if…
- Stays out of the way for developers
- Quick capture from terminal
Watch out for
- Terminal-first workflow
- Limited rich formatting
Choose Khoj if…
- Turns notes into an AI knowledge base
- Supports local LLMs
Watch out for
- Higher resource needs
- Setup more involved
Frequently asked questions
Is Dnote or Khoj better?
Neither is universally better. Khoj has the larger community, while Dnote is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dnote and Khoj free and open-source?
Yes. Dnote is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Khoj under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dnote and Khoj with Docker?
Dnote: yes. Khoj: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dnote or Khoj?
Dnote has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Khoj. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.