SHSelfHostIndex

Foam vs Notesnook

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?
FO Foam Personal knowledge management on top of VS Code VS NO Notesnook Private, end-to-end encrypted note-taking app
FeatureFoamNotesnook
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentsourcedocker, source
GitHub stars★ 17,328★ 14,380
First released20202021
ReplacesRoam Research, ObsidianEvernote, OneNote, 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
Foam details

Choose Notesnook if…

  • Strong privacy by default
  • Polished apps on all platforms
Notesnook details

Frequently asked questions

Is Foam or Notesnook better?

Foam is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Notesnook if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Foam and Notesnook free and open-source?

Yes. Foam is licensed under MIT and Notesnook under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Foam and Notesnook with Docker?

Foam: check the project docs for container support. Notesnook: yes.

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