mdSilo vs zk
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?
mdSilo
Networked note-taking and knowledge base app
VS
zk
Plain-text note-taking and Zettelkasten assistant
| Feature | mdSilo | zk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 849 | ★ 2,748 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Obsidian, Roam Research | Roam Research, Obsidian |
Why pick each one
Choose mdSilo if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose zk if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is mdSilo or zk better?
Neither is universally better. zk has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are mdSilo and zk free and open-source?
Yes. mdSilo is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and zk under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mdSilo and zk with Docker?
mdSilo: check the project docs for container support. zk: check the project docs for container support.