Open-source alternatives to Evernote
The most popular self-hosted, open-source alternatives to Evernote (note-taking and web clipping) are Joplin (56,784 GitHub stars), TriliumNext Notes (38,388 GitHub stars) and Docs (16,928 GitHub stars). SelfHostHub lists 12 options below, taken from its Note-taking & Editors category; 9 support Docker and all of them can run on your own server.
Comparison of self-hosted Evernote alternatives
| Project | GitHub stars | Licence | Language / platform | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin | 56,784 | MIT | Nodejs | Note taking application with markdown editor and encryption support for mobile and desktop platforms. Runs client-side and syncs through a self hosted Nextcloud instance or similar (alternative to Evernote). |
| TriliumNext Notes | 38,388 | AGPL-3.0 | Nodejs, Docker, K8S | Cross-platform hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases (fork of Trilium Notes). |
| Docs | 16,928 | MIT | K8S | Collaborative note taking, wiki and documentation platform that scales. |
| Blinko | 11,102 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker | A personal note tool with AI features. |
| HedgeDoc | 7,485 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker, Nodejs | Realtime collaborative markdown notes on all platforms, formerly known as CodiMD and HackMD CE. |
| Standard Notes | 6,669 | GPL-3.0 | Ruby | Simple and private notes app. Protect your privacy while getting more done. That's Standard Notes. |
| SilverBullet | 6,348 | MIT | Docker, Deno | Note-taking application optimized for people with a hacker mindset. |
| Livebook | 5,883 | Apache-2.0 | Elixir, Docker | Realtime collaborative notebook app based on Markdown that supports running Elixir code snippets, TeX and Mermaid Diagrams. Easily deployed using Docker or Elixir. |
| flatnotes | 3,260 | MIT | Docker | Database-less note-taking web app that utilises a flat folder of markdown files for storage. |
| NoteDiscovery | 2,847 | MIT | Docker, Python | Markdown note-taking app with plain-file storage, graph view, and MCP integration (alternative to Obsidian, Notion). |
| Jotty | 2,029 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker | Lightweight but powerful alternative for managing your personal, file based, notes and checklists. |
| bewCloud | 1,241 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker | File sharing + sync, notes, and photos (alternative to Nextcloud and ownCloud's RSS reader). |
Star counts and licences come from the awesome-selfhosted dataset and may lag GitHub slightly.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the best open-source alternative to Evernote?
By GitHub stars, Joplin is the most popular self-hosted alternative to Evernote listed here, followed by TriliumNext Notes and Docs. The best fit depends on the features and stack you need.
Is there a free self-hosted alternative to Evernote?
Yes. All 12 projects on this page are open source and can be self-hosted at no licence cost; you pay only for your own server.
Which licences do these Evernote alternatives use?
The most common licences among them are MIT (5), AGPL-3.0 (5) and GPL-3.0 (1).
Can I run a Evernote alternative with Docker?
9 of the 12 alternatives list Docker as a supported platform.