Docmost vs NoteDiscovery
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Docmost
Open-source collaborative wiki and documentation
VS
NoteDiscovery
Self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with graph view
| Feature | Docmost | NoteDiscovery |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,773 | ★ 2,812 |
| First released | 2024 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Obsidian, Notion |
What are Docmost and NoteDiscovery?
Docmost
Docmost is an open-source collaborative documentation and wiki software for teams to create and organize knowledge. It targets organizations seeking a self-hosted Confluence alternative. It is deployed via Docker with PostgreSQL.
- Real-time collaborative editing
- Spaces and nested pages
- Permissions and SSO
- Diagrams and embeds
NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery is a self-hosted Markdown knowledge base featuring wikilinks, a graph view, a drawing editor, and LaTeX and Mermaid rendering. It is designed for building and exploring a connected personal knowledge base.
- Wikilinks and graph view
- Drawing editor
- LaTeX and Mermaid support
- Self-hosted knowledge base
Docmost vs NoteDiscovery: key differences
Docmost is written in TypeScript, while NoteDiscovery is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Docmost versus MIT for NoteDiscovery. NoteDiscovery is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Docmost. Docmost has the considerably larger community, at 21,773 GitHub stars versus 2,812.
Why pick each one
Choose Docmost if…
- Clean modern interface
- Good team collaboration
- Active development
Watch out for
- Young project
- Requires Postgres
Choose NoteDiscovery if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Docmost or NoteDiscovery better?
Neither is universally better. Docmost has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Docmost and NoteDiscovery free and open-source?
Yes. Docmost is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Docmost and NoteDiscovery with Docker?
Docmost: yes. NoteDiscovery: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Docmost or NoteDiscovery?
NoteDiscovery has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Docmost. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.