NoteDiscovery 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.
Not the right match-up?
NoteDiscovery
Self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with graph view
VS
Outline
Team knowledge base and wiki
| Feature | NoteDiscovery | Outline |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | BSL-1.1 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,735 | ★ 40,034 |
| First released | 2024 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Obsidian, Notion | Notion, Confluence |
Why pick each one
Choose NoteDiscovery if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is NoteDiscovery or Outline better?
Neither is universally better. Outline has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are NoteDiscovery and Outline free and open-source?
Yes. NoteDiscovery is licensed under MIT and Outline under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NoteDiscovery and Outline with Docker?
NoteDiscovery: yes. Outline: yes.