Outline Desktop vs org-roam
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?
Outline Desktop
Markdown wiki and knowledge base for teams
VS
org-roam
Plain-text personal knowledge management for Emacs
| Feature | Outline Desktop | org-roam |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Emacs Lisp |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,228 | ★ 6,007 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Notion, Obsidian | Roam Research, Obsidian |
Why pick each one
Choose org-roam if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in Emacs Lisp
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Outline Desktop or org-roam better?
Neither is universally better. org-roam has the larger community, while Outline Desktop is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Outline Desktop and org-roam free and open-source?
Yes. Outline Desktop is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and org-roam under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Outline Desktop and org-roam with Docker?
Outline Desktop: yes. org-roam: check the project docs for container support.