Notable vs Outline
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 | Outline |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 28 · At risk | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSL-1.1 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,496 | ★ 40,682 |
| First released | 2018 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion | Notion, Confluence |
What are Notable and Outline?
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
Outline
Outline is a fast, collaborative knowledge base and wiki for teams with real-time editing and powerful search. It targets organizations that want a self-hosted documentation hub. It is deployed via Docker with PostgreSQL and Redis.
- Real-time collaborative editing
- Fast full-text search
- SSO and team permissions
- Slack and API integrations
Notable vs Outline: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Notable versus BSL-1.1 for Outline. Notable is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Outline. Outline lists first-class Docker deployment; Notable does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Notable if…
- Notes stay as portable files
- Simple and focused
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Desktop only
Choose Outline if…
- Polished team wiki
- Great search
- Strong integrations
Watch out for
- Requires Postgres and Redis
- BSL is not fully open source
Frequently asked questions
Is Notable or Outline better?
Neither is universally better. Outline has the larger community, while Notable is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Notable and Outline free and open-source?
Yes. Notable is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Outline under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Notable and Outline with Docker?
Notable: check the project docs for container support. Outline: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Notable or Outline?
Notable has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Outline. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.