Notable vs nb Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Notable | nb Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 28 · At risk | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | binary | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,496 | ★ 8,410 |
| First released | 2018 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion | Evernote, Notion |
What are Notable and nb Notes?
Notable
Notable is a note-taking application that stores notes as plain Markdown files on disk. It offers a clean editor, tags, and full-text search while keeping all data in portable files.
- Plain Markdown file storage
- Tag-based organization
- Full-text search
- Clean editor
nb Notes
nb is a command-line and local web tool for plain-text note-taking, bookmarking, and archiving with Git-backed versioning and syncing. It works entirely in the terminal and supports encryption.
- Plain-text notes and bookmarks
- Git-backed sync
- Optional encryption
- Tagging and search
Notable vs nb Notes: key differences
Notable is written in TypeScript, while nb Notes is built with Shell. Nb Notes is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Notable. Notable has the considerably larger community, at 23,496 GitHub stars versus 8,410.
Why pick each one
Choose Notable if…
- Notes stay as portable files
- Simple and focused
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Desktop only
Choose nb Notes if…
- Powerful for terminal users
- Versioned with Git
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No graphical client
Frequently asked questions
Is Notable or nb Notes better?
Neither is universally better. Notable has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Notable and nb Notes free and open-source?
Yes. Notable is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and nb Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Notable and nb Notes with Docker?
Notable: check the project docs for container support. nb Notes: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Notable or nb Notes?
nb Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Notable. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.