Dnote vs Trilium Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Trilium Notes
Hierarchical note-taking for building knowledge bases
| Feature | Dnote | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 78 · Good | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,084 | ★ 37,958 |
| First released | 2017 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Simplenote | Evernote, Notion |
What are Dnote and Trilium Notes?
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
Trilium Notes
Trilium Notes is a hierarchical note-taking application designed for building large personal knowledge bases with rich linking and scripting. It targets power users who want a structured second brain. It is deployed via Docker as a server with desktop and web clients.
- Deep hierarchical note tree
- Note attributes and relations
- Scripting and automation
- Encrypted protected notes
Dnote vs Trilium Notes: key differences
Dnote is written in Go, while Trilium Notes is built with TypeScript. Dnote is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Trilium Notes. Trilium Notes has the considerably larger community, at 37,958 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 Trilium Notes if…
- Powerful for big knowledge bases
- Flexible structure
- Scriptable
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Single-user oriented
Frequently asked questions
Is Dnote or Trilium Notes better?
Neither is universally better. Trilium Notes has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Dnote and Trilium Notes free and open-source?
Yes. Dnote is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Trilium Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dnote and Trilium Notes with Docker?
Dnote: yes. Trilium Notes: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dnote or Trilium Notes?
Dnote has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Trilium Notes. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.