Open-source alternatives to Notion
The most popular self-hosted, open-source alternatives to Notion (all-in-one notes, docs and wiki workspace) are Memos (63,897 GitHub stars), Joplin (56,784 GitHub stars) and SiYuan (46,827 GitHub stars). SelfHostHub lists 12 options below, taken from its Note-taking & Editors, Wikis and Knowledge Management Tools categories; 8 support Docker and all of them can run on your own server.
Comparison of self-hosted Notion alternatives
| Project | GitHub stars | Licence | Language / platform | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memos | 63,897 | MIT | Docker, Go | Knowledge base that works with a SQLite db file. |
| 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). |
| SiYuan | 46,827 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker, Go | A privacy-first personal knowledge management software, written in typescript and golang. |
| Outline | 40,963 | BUSL-1.1 | Nodejs, Docker | Extensible wiki for your team. |
| 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). |
| Wiki.js | 29,051 | AGPL-3.0 | Nodejs, Docker, K8S | Modern, lightweight and powerful wiki app using Git and Markdown. |
| docmost Community Edition | 22,024 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker, Nodejs | Collaborative wiki and documentation software (alternative to Confluence, Notion). |
| Overleaf | 18,252 | AGPL-3.0 | Ruby | Web-based collaborative LaTeX editor. |
| 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. |
| draw.io | 8,853 | Apache-2.0 | Javascript, Docker | Diagram software for making flowcharts, process diagrams, org charts, UML, ER and network diagrams. |
| TiddlyWiki | 8,692 | BSD-3-Clause | Nodejs | Reusable non-linear personal web notebook. |
Star counts and licences come from the awesome-selfhosted dataset and may lag GitHub slightly.
Browse the full categories
All self-hosted Note-taking & Editors · All self-hosted Wikis · All self-hosted Knowledge Management Tools
Frequently asked questions
What is the best open-source alternative to Notion?
By GitHub stars, Memos is the most popular self-hosted alternative to Notion listed here, followed by Joplin and SiYuan. The best fit depends on the features and stack you need.
Is there a free self-hosted alternative to Notion?
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 Notion alternatives use?
The most common licences among them are AGPL-3.0 (6), MIT (3) and BUSL-1.1 (1).
Can I run a Notion alternative with Docker?
8 of the 12 alternatives list Docker as a supported platform.