Obsidian 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.
Obsidian
Local-first knowledge base on a folder of Markdown files
VS
Trilium Notes Next
Archived
Hierarchical note-taking app for building knowledge bases
| Feature | Obsidian | Trilium Notes Next |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,797 | ★ 2,926 |
| First released | 2020 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion, OneNote | Evernote, OneNote, Notion |
What are Obsidian and Trilium Notes Next?
Obsidian
Obsidian is a powerful personal knowledge base that works on a local folder of plain Markdown files. While the app is proprietary, your notes remain fully local and portable, and self-hosted sync is possible via plugins.
- Plain Markdown file storage
- Bidirectional links and graph view
- Large community plugin ecosystem
- Local-first and private
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
Obsidian vs Trilium Notes Next: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Trilium Notes Next's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Obsidian is actively maintained. Obsidian is written in JavaScript, while Trilium Notes Next is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Obsidian versus AGPL-3.0 for Trilium Notes Next. Obsidian is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Trilium Notes Next. Obsidian is the more established project (first released 2020), while Trilium Notes Next arrived in 2024. Obsidian has the considerably larger community, at 21,797 GitHub stars versus 2,926. Trilium Notes Next lists first-class Docker deployment; Obsidian does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Obsidian if…
- Notes stay portable and local
- Highly extensible
Watch out for
- Core app is closed source
- Official sync is a paid service
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 Obsidian or Trilium Notes Next better?
Obsidian is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Trilium Notes Next if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Obsidian and Trilium Notes Next free and open-source?
Yes. Obsidian is licensed under Proprietary and Trilium Notes Next under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Obsidian and Trilium Notes Next with Docker?
Obsidian: check the project docs for container support. Trilium Notes Next: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Obsidian or Trilium Notes Next?
Obsidian 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.