Dnote 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?
FeatureDnoteOutline
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0BSL-1.1
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 3,051★ 40,034
First released20172017
ReplacesEvernote, SimplenoteNotion, Confluence

Why pick each one

Choose Dnote if…

  • Stays out of the way for developers
  • Quick capture from terminal
Dnote details

Choose Outline if…

  • Polished team wiki
  • Great search
  • Strong integrations
Outline details

Frequently asked questions

Is Dnote or Outline better?

Neither is universally better. Outline 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 Outline free and open-source?

Yes. Dnote is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Outline under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Dnote and Outline with Docker?

Dnote: yes. Outline: yes.

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