Memos vs Trilium Notes Next
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 | Trilium Notes Next |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 63,295 | ★ 2,926 |
| First released | 2022 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Notion, Google Keep | Evernote, OneNote, Notion |
What are Memos and Trilium Notes Next?
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
Trilium Notes Next
TriliumNext is the actively maintained community continuation of Trilium Notes, a hierarchical note-taking application for building large personal knowledge bases. It supports rich text, code notes, and scripting.
- Hierarchical note tree
- Rich text and code notes
- Scripting and automation
- Note encryption
Memos vs Trilium Notes Next: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Trilium Notes Next's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Memos is actively maintained. Memos is written in Go, while Trilium Notes Next is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Memos versus AGPL-3.0 for Trilium Notes Next. Memos is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Trilium Notes Next. Memos is the more established project (first released 2022), while Trilium Notes Next arrived in 2024. Memos has the considerably larger community, at 63,295 GitHub stars versus 2,926.
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 Trilium Notes Next if…
- Excellent for large knowledge bases
- Powerful and extensible
Watch out for
- Steeper learning curve
- Primarily single-user
Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or Trilium Notes Next better?
Memos is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Trilium Notes Next if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Memos and Trilium Notes Next free and open-source?
Yes. Memos is licensed under MIT and Trilium Notes Next under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Memos and Trilium Notes Next with Docker?
Memos: yes. Trilium Notes Next: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Memos or Trilium Notes Next?
Memos has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Trilium Notes Next. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.