Khoj vs WizNote
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Khoj
Self-hostable AI assistant over your personal notes
VS
WizNote
Cross-platform note-taking app with a self-hosted server
| Feature | Khoj | WizNote |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 18 · At risk |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 37,485 | ★ 2,660 |
| First released | 2021 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Notion AI, Evernote | Evernote, OneNote |
What are Khoj and WizNote?
Khoj
Khoj is an open-source, self-hostable AI application that lets you search and chat with your notes, documents, and knowledge base. It connects to Markdown, Org-mode, PDF, and other personal data sources.
- AI chat over personal notes
- Semantic search across documents
- Connects many data sources
- Self-hostable
WizNote
WizNote is a cross-platform note-taking app with desktop and mobile clients. The Qt desktop client is open source; the self-hostable sync server is distributed as a closed-source Docker image with a free tier for small teams.
- Cross-platform note clients
- Self-hostable sync server
- Rich note formatting
- Attachment support
Khoj vs WizNote: key differences
Khoj is written in Python, while WizNote is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Khoj versus GPL-3.0 for WizNote. WizNote is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Khoj. WizNote is the more established project (first released 2011), while Khoj arrived in 2021. Khoj has the considerably larger community, at 37,485 GitHub stars versus 2,660.
Why pick each one
Choose Khoj if…
- Turns notes into an AI knowledge base
- Supports local LLMs
Watch out for
- Higher resource needs
- Setup more involved
Choose WizNote if…
- Mature multi-platform apps
- Server can be self-hosted
Watch out for
- Documentation strongest in Chinese
- Client and server are separate projects
Frequently asked questions
Is Khoj or WizNote better?
Neither is universally better. Khoj has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Khoj and WizNote free and open-source?
Yes. Khoj is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WizNote under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Khoj and WizNote with Docker?
Khoj: yes. WizNote: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Khoj or WizNote?
WizNote has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Khoj. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.