Joplin vs Knowledge
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?
Joplin
Open-source note-taking and to-do app with sync
VS
Knowledge
Desktop tool for saving, accessing and exploring sources
| Feature | Joplin | Knowledge |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 55,856 | ★ 1,459 |
| First released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Evernote, OneNote | Notion, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Choose Knowledge if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Knowledge better?
Neither is universally better. Joplin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Joplin and Knowledge free and open-source?
Yes. Joplin is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Knowledge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Joplin and Knowledge with Docker?
Joplin: yes. Knowledge: check the project docs for container support.