Joplin vs Notea
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
Notea
Self-hosted note-taking app stored on S3
| Feature | Joplin | Notea |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 55,856 | ★ 2,146 |
| First released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Evernote, OneNote | Notion, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Joplin or Notea better?
Joplin is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Notea if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Joplin and Notea free and open-source?
Yes. Joplin is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Notea under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Joplin and Notea with Docker?
Joplin: yes. Notea: yes.