Joplin vs Notable

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?
FeatureJoplinNotable
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbinary
GitHub stars★ 55,856★ 23,496
First released20172018
ReplacesEvernote, OneNoteEvernote, Notion

Why pick each one

Choose Joplin if…

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

Choose Notable if…

  • Notes stay as portable files
  • Simple and focused
Notable details

Frequently asked questions

Is Joplin or Notable 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 Notable free and open-source?

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

Can I run Joplin and Notable with Docker?

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

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