Foam vs Notabase
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Foam | Notabase |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 73 · Good |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source | source, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,415 | ★ 912 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Roam Research, Obsidian | Roam Research, Obsidian |
What are Foam and Notabase?
Foam
Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system built as a set of extensions and conventions for Visual Studio Code. It turns a folder of Markdown files into a linked, navigable knowledge base.
- Wiki-style links
- Graph visualization
- Plain Markdown files
- VS Code integration
Notabase
Notabase is an open-source personal knowledge base that connects notes through links and block references to support networked thinking. It offers a WYSIWYG editor and can be self-hosted on a Supabase backend.
- Linked notes and block references
- WYSIWYG rich-text editor
- Markdown export
- Self-hostable on Supabase
Foam vs Notabase: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Foam versus AGPL-3.0 for Notabase. Foam is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Notabase. Foam has the considerably larger community, at 17,415 GitHub stars versus 912.
Why pick each one
Choose Foam if…
- Plain Markdown files
- Graph visualization included
- Git-friendly by design
Watch out for
- Requires VS Code
- Less polished than Obsidian
Choose Notabase if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in TypeScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Foam or Notabase better?
Foam is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Notabase if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Foam and Notabase free and open-source?
Yes. Foam is licensed under MIT and Notabase under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Foam and Notabase with Docker?
Foam: check the project docs for container support. Notabase: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Foam or Notabase?
Foam has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Notabase. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.