SHSelfHostIndex

Laverna vs Memos

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?
LA Laverna Markdown note-taking app with client-side encryption VS ME Memos Lightweight self-hosted note and memo hub
FeatureLavernaMemos
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseMPL-2.0MIT
LanguageJavaScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB64 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 9,182★ 62,093
First released20142022
ReplacesEvernote, SimplenoteNotion, Google Keep

Why pick each one

Choose Laverna if…

  • Strong privacy focus
  • No backend required
Laverna details

Choose Memos if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Quick capture workflow
  • Simple deployment
Memos details

Frequently asked questions

Is Laverna or Memos better?

Neither is universally better. Memos has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Laverna and Memos free and open-source?

Yes. Laverna is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Memos under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Laverna and Memos with Docker?

Laverna: check the project docs for container support. Memos: yes.

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