Outline vs Trilium Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Outline
Team knowledge base and wiki
VS
Trilium Notes
Hierarchical note-taking for building knowledge bases
| Feature | Outline | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | BSL-1.1 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 40,682 | ★ 37,958 |
| First released | 2017 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Notion, Confluence | Evernote, Notion |
What are Outline and Trilium Notes?
Outline
Outline is a fast, collaborative knowledge base and wiki for teams with real-time editing and powerful search. It targets organizations that want a self-hosted documentation hub. It is deployed via Docker with PostgreSQL and Redis.
- Real-time collaborative editing
- Fast full-text search
- SSO and team permissions
- Slack and API integrations
Trilium Notes
Trilium Notes is a hierarchical note-taking application designed for building large personal knowledge bases with rich linking and scripting. It targets power users who want a structured second brain. It is deployed via Docker as a server with desktop and web clients.
- Deep hierarchical note tree
- Note attributes and relations
- Scripting and automation
- Encrypted protected notes
Outline vs Trilium Notes: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — BSL-1.1 for Outline versus AGPL-3.0 for Trilium Notes. Trilium Notes is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Outline.
Why pick each one
Choose Outline if…
- Polished team wiki
- Great search
- Strong integrations
Watch out for
- Requires Postgres and Redis
- BSL is not fully open source
Choose Trilium Notes if…
- Powerful for big knowledge bases
- Flexible structure
- Scriptable
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Single-user oriented
Frequently asked questions
Is Outline or Trilium Notes better?
Neither is universally better. Outline has the larger community, while Trilium Notes is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Outline and Trilium Notes free and open-source?
Yes. Outline is licensed under BSL-1.1 and Trilium Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Outline and Trilium Notes with Docker?
Outline: yes. Trilium Notes: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Outline or Trilium Notes?
Trilium Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Outline. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.