Foam vs org-roam
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 | org-roam |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 68 · Good |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Emacs Lisp |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,415 | ★ 6,030 |
| First released | 2020 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Roam Research, Obsidian | Roam Research, Obsidian |
What are Foam and org-roam?
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
org-roam
Org-roam is a plain-text personal knowledge management system for Emacs that brings Zettelkasten-style note-taking on top of Org-mode files. It maintains a database of links between notes for backlinks and graph views.
- Zettelkasten workflow
- Backlinks panel
- Org-mode based
- Link graph
Foam vs org-roam: key differences
Foam is written in TypeScript, while org-roam is built with Emacs Lisp. Licensing differs — MIT for Foam versus GPL-3.0 for org-roam. Org-roam is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Foam. Foam has the considerably larger community, at 17,415 GitHub stars versus 6,030.
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 org-roam if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in Emacs Lisp
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Foam or org-roam better?
Foam is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider org-roam if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Foam and org-roam free and open-source?
Yes. Foam is licensed under MIT and org-roam under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Foam and org-roam with Docker?
Foam: check the project docs for container support. org-roam: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Foam or org-roam?
org-roam has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Foam. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.