Trilium Notes Next vs Wiki.js
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Wiki.js
Modern and powerful open-source wiki
| Feature | Trilium Notes Next | Wiki.js |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 98 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,926 | ★ 28,956 |
| First released | 2024 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Evernote, OneNote, Notion | Confluence, Notion |
What are Trilium Notes Next and Wiki.js?
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
Wiki.js
Wiki.js is a modern, feature-rich wiki engine with multiple editors, authentication options, and storage backends. It targets teams and communities building a structured knowledge base. It is deployed via Docker or Node.js.
- Markdown, WYSIWYG and code editors
- Many authentication providers
- Git and storage sync
- Powerful permissions
Trilium Notes Next vs Wiki.js: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Trilium Notes Next's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Wiki.js is actively maintained. Trilium Notes Next is written in TypeScript, while Wiki.js is built with Vue. Wiki.js is the more established project (first released 2017), while Trilium Notes Next arrived in 2024. Wiki.js has the considerably larger community, at 28,956 GitHub stars versus 2,926.
Why pick each one
Choose Trilium Notes Next if…
- Excellent for large knowledge bases
- Powerful and extensible
Watch out for
- Steeper learning curve
- Primarily single-user
Choose Wiki.js if…
- Flexible and full-featured
- Many auth options
- Good content management
Watch out for
- Configuration can be involved
- Version 3 rewrite in progress
Frequently asked questions
Is Trilium Notes Next or Wiki.js better?
Neither is universally better. Wiki.js has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Trilium Notes Next and Wiki.js free and open-source?
Yes. Trilium Notes Next is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Wiki.js under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Trilium Notes Next and Wiki.js with Docker?
Trilium Notes Next: yes. Wiki.js: yes.