Khoj 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?
Khoj
Self-hostable AI assistant over your personal notes
VS
Laverna
Markdown note-taking app with client-side encryption
| Feature | Khoj | Laverna |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,386 | ★ 9,182 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Notion AI, Evernote | Evernote, Simplenote |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Khoj or Laverna better?
Neither is universally better. Khoj has the larger community, while Laverna is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Khoj and Laverna free and open-source?
Yes. Khoj is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Laverna under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Khoj and Laverna with Docker?
Khoj: yes. Laverna: check the project docs for container support.