Notea vs Wiki.js
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Wiki.js
Modern and powerful open-source wiki
| Feature | Notea | Wiki.js |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 98 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,147 | ★ 28,956 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Notion, Evernote | Confluence, Notion |
What are Notea and Wiki.js?
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
Wiki.js
Wiki.js is a modern, feature-rich wiki engine with multiple editors, authentication options, and storage backends. It targets teams and communities building a structured knowledge base. It is deployed via Docker or Node.js.
- Markdown, WYSIWYG and code editors
- Many authentication providers
- Git and storage sync
- Powerful permissions
Notea vs Wiki.js: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Notea's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Wiki.js is actively maintained. Notea is written in TypeScript, while Wiki.js is built with Vue. Licensing differs — MIT for Notea versus AGPL-3.0 for Wiki.js. Notea is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Wiki.js. Wiki.js is the more established project (first released 2017), while Notea arrived in 2021. Wiki.js has the considerably larger community, at 28,956 GitHub stars versus 2,147.
Why pick each one
Choose Notea if…
- Simple storage model
- Clean editing experience
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Single-user focused
Choose Wiki.js if…
- Flexible and full-featured
- Many auth options
- Good content management
Watch out for
- Configuration can be involved
- Version 3 rewrite in progress
Frequently asked questions
Is Notea or Wiki.js better?
Neither is universally better. Wiki.js has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Notea and Wiki.js free and open-source?
Yes. Notea is licensed under MIT and Wiki.js under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Notea and Wiki.js with Docker?
Notea: yes. Wiki.js: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Notea or Wiki.js?
Notea has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Wiki.js. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.