Kaneo vs Trilium Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Kaneo
Project management platform focused on simplicity and efficiency
VS
Trilium Notes
Hierarchical note-taking for building knowledge bases
| Feature | Kaneo | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,637 | ★ 37,298 |
| First released | 2026 | 2017 |
| Replaces | — | Evernote, Notion |
Why pick each one
Choose Kaneo if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 7.6k GitHub stars
Choose Trilium Notes if…
- Powerful for big knowledge bases
- Flexible structure
- Scriptable
Frequently asked questions
Is Kaneo or Trilium Notes better?
Trilium Notes is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Kaneo if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Kaneo and Trilium Notes free and open-source?
Yes. Kaneo is licensed under MIT and Trilium Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kaneo and Trilium Notes with Docker?
Kaneo: yes. Trilium Notes: yes.