CodiMD vs Rowy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted office suites options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
CodiMD
Realtime collaborative Markdown notes platform
VS
Rowy
Spreadsheet-like UI for Firestore databases
| Feature | CodiMD | Rowy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Office Suites | Office Suites |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,127 | ★ 6,832 |
| First released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Docs, HackMD | Airtable |
Why pick each one
Choose CodiMD if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10.1k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Rowy if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.8k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is CodiMD or Rowy better?
Neither is universally better. CodiMD has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are CodiMD and Rowy free and open-source?
Yes. CodiMD is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Rowy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CodiMD and Rowy with Docker?
CodiMD: yes. Rowy: yes.