SHSelfHostIndex

Joplin vs Laverna

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?
JO Joplin Open-source note-taking and to-do app with sync VS LA Laverna Markdown note-taking app with client-side encryption
FeatureJoplinLaverna
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 55,856★ 9,182
First released20172014
ReplacesEvernote, OneNoteEvernote, Simplenote

Why pick each one

Choose Joplin if…

  • Strong privacy with E2EE
  • Flexible sync options
  • Active development
Joplin details

Choose Laverna if…

  • Strong privacy focus
  • No backend required
Laverna details

Frequently asked questions

Is Joplin or Laverna 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 Laverna free and open-source?

Yes. Joplin is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Laverna under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Joplin and Laverna with Docker?

Joplin: yes. Laverna: check the project docs for container support.

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