NoteDiscovery 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.
NoteDiscovery
Self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with graph view
VS
nb Notes
Command-line note-taking, bookmarking, and archiving tool
| Feature | NoteDiscovery | nb Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,812 | ★ 8,410 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Obsidian, Notion | Evernote, Notion |
What are NoteDiscovery and nb Notes?
NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery is a self-hosted Markdown knowledge base featuring wikilinks, a graph view, a drawing editor, and LaTeX and Mermaid rendering. It is designed for building and exploring a connected personal knowledge base.
- Wikilinks and graph view
- Drawing editor
- LaTeX and Mermaid support
- Self-hosted knowledge base
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
NoteDiscovery vs nb Notes: key differences
NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript, while nb Notes is built with Shell. Licensing differs — MIT for NoteDiscovery versus AGPL-3.0 for nb Notes. Nb Notes is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 256 MB for NoteDiscovery. Nb Notes is the more established project (first released 2019), while NoteDiscovery arrived in 2024. Nb Notes has the considerably larger community, at 8,410 GitHub stars versus 2,812. NoteDiscovery lists first-class Docker deployment; nb Notes does not.
Why pick each one
Choose NoteDiscovery if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Choose nb Notes if…
- Powerful for terminal users
- Versioned with Git
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No graphical client
Frequently asked questions
Is NoteDiscovery or nb Notes better?
nb Notes is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider NoteDiscovery if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are NoteDiscovery and nb Notes free and open-source?
Yes. NoteDiscovery is licensed under MIT and nb Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NoteDiscovery and nb Notes with Docker?
NoteDiscovery: yes. nb Notes: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, NoteDiscovery or nb Notes?
nb Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for NoteDiscovery. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.