NoteDiscovery vs Trilium Notes Next
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
Trilium Notes Next
Archived
Hierarchical note-taking app for building knowledge bases
| Feature | NoteDiscovery | Trilium Notes Next |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,812 | ★ 2,926 |
| First released | 2024 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Obsidian, Notion | Evernote, OneNote, Notion |
What are NoteDiscovery and Trilium Notes Next?
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
Trilium Notes Next
TriliumNext is the actively maintained community continuation of Trilium Notes, a hierarchical note-taking application for building large personal knowledge bases. It supports rich text, code notes, and scripting.
- Hierarchical note tree
- Rich text and code notes
- Scripting and automation
- Note encryption
NoteDiscovery vs Trilium Notes Next: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Trilium Notes Next's repository is archived and no longer developed, while NoteDiscovery is actively maintained. NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript, while Trilium Notes Next is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for NoteDiscovery versus AGPL-3.0 for Trilium Notes Next. NoteDiscovery is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Trilium Notes Next.
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 Trilium Notes Next if…
- Excellent for large knowledge bases
- Powerful and extensible
Watch out for
- Steeper learning curve
- Primarily single-user
Frequently asked questions
Is NoteDiscovery or Trilium Notes Next better?
Neither is universally better. Trilium Notes Next has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are NoteDiscovery and Trilium Notes Next free and open-source?
Yes. NoteDiscovery is licensed under MIT and Trilium Notes Next under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NoteDiscovery and Trilium Notes Next with Docker?
NoteDiscovery: yes. Trilium Notes Next: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, NoteDiscovery or Trilium Notes Next?
NoteDiscovery has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Trilium Notes Next. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.