Foam 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.
Not the right match-up?
Foam
Personal knowledge management on top of VS Code
VS
NoteDiscovery
Self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with graph view
| Feature | Foam | NoteDiscovery |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,328 | ★ 2,735 |
| First released | 2020 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Roam Research, Obsidian | Obsidian, Notion |
Why pick each one
Choose Foam if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 17.3k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Choose NoteDiscovery if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Foam or NoteDiscovery better?
Foam is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider NoteDiscovery if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Foam and NoteDiscovery free and open-source?
Yes. Foam is licensed under MIT and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Foam and NoteDiscovery with Docker?
Foam: check the project docs for container support. NoteDiscovery: yes.