Notea 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 | Notea | nb Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 92 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,147 | ★ 8,410 |
| First released | 2021 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Notion, Evernote | Evernote, Notion |
What are Notea and nb Notes?
Notea
Notea is an open-source, self-hosted note-taking application with a Notion-like editor that stores all data on S3-compatible object storage. It runs serverlessly and requires no traditional database.
- Notion-like editor
- Stores data on S3
- No database required
- Markdown support
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
Notea vs nb Notes: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Notea's repository is archived and no longer developed, while nb Notes is actively maintained. Notea is written in TypeScript, while nb Notes is built with Shell. Licensing differs — MIT for Notea versus AGPL-3.0 for nb Notes. Nb Notes is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Notea. Nb Notes is the more established project (first released 2019), while Notea arrived in 2021. Nb Notes has the considerably larger community, at 8,410 GitHub stars versus 2,147. Notea lists first-class Docker deployment; nb Notes does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Notea if…
- Simple storage model
- Clean editing experience
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Single-user focused
Choose nb Notes if…
- Powerful for terminal users
- Versioned with Git
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No graphical client
Frequently asked questions
Is Notea or nb Notes better?
nb Notes is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Notea if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Notea and nb Notes free and open-source?
Yes. Notea is licensed under MIT and nb Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Notea and nb Notes with Docker?
Notea: yes. nb Notes: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Notea or nb Notes?
nb Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Notea. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.