Memos vs QuillPad
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Memos | QuillPad |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Kotlin |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 63,295 | ★ 1,388 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Notion, Google Keep | Google Keep, OneNote |
What are Memos and QuillPad?
Memos
Memos is a lightweight, privacy-first note-taking service for quick notes and memos with a clean timeline interface. It targets individuals who want a fast personal microblog-style note tool. It is deployed via Docker as a single container.
- Fast Markdown memo timeline
- Tagging and filtering
- REST API
- Tiny single-binary footprint
QuillPad
Quillpad is an open-source note-taking application focused on a clean, distraction-free writing experience with rich text formatting. It organizes notes into notebooks and supports tags, search, and offline use.
- Rich text notes
- Notebooks and tags
- Offline-first design
- Lightweight footprint
Memos vs QuillPad: key differences
Memos is written in Go, while QuillPad is built with Kotlin. Licensing differs — MIT for Memos versus GPL-3.0 for QuillPad. Memos is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for QuillPad. Memos has the considerably larger community, at 63,295 GitHub stars versus 1,388. Memos lists first-class Docker deployment; QuillPad does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Memos if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Quick capture workflow
- Simple deployment
Watch out for
- Not for long structured docs
- Limited organization features
Choose QuillPad if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Kotlin
Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or QuillPad 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 Memos and QuillPad free and open-source?
Yes. Memos is licensed under MIT and QuillPad under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Memos and QuillPad with Docker?
Memos: yes. QuillPad: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Memos or QuillPad?
Memos has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for QuillPad. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.