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Open source alternatives to Evernote

We track 5 open-source Evernote alternatives, of which 4 currently score 70 or above on Repoly's GitHub health scale and 3 ship a Docker image. Memos leads on health at 99/100 with 192 commits in the last 90 days; across all 5 projects you are choosing between AGPL-3.0, GPL-3.0, MIT and 1 other licences.

5
Alternatives
172k
Combined stars
4,406
Commits / 90 days
3
With Docker
Licence family Licence

Showing 5 of 5 tools

All 5 Evernote alternatives, ranked by health

  • Top pick · highest health

    Memos

    99 GOOD

    Knowledge base that works with a SQLite db file.

    ★ 63k · ⟳ today · v0.30.0 · MIT

    DockerGo
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • SiYuan

    99 GOOD

    A privacy-first personal knowledge management software, written in typescript and golang.

    ★ 46k · ⟳ today · v3.8.3 · AGPL-3.0

    DockerGo
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • Joplin

    89 GOOD

    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).

    ★ 56k · ⟳ today · v3.7.18 · MIT

    Nodejs
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • Standard Notes

    85 GOOD

    Simple and private notes app. Protect your privacy while getting more done. That's Standard Notes.

    ★ 6.6k · ⟳ 4 days ago · @standardnotes/desktop@3.202.0 · GPL-3.0

    Ruby
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • Wiznote

    20 STALE

    Manage your knowledge in documents with folders, markdown, full text search and webpage collection support.

    ⊘ Proprietary

    Docker
    Website ↗ Source ↗

Evernote alternatives: common questions

What is the most maintained open source alternative to Evernote?

Memos scores highest at 99/100, with 192 commits in the last 90 days, 63k GitHub stars and its latest release (v0.30.0) published 2 months ago. SiYuan has the most raw commit activity at 3709 commits in 90 days.

Which Evernote alternatives use a permissive licence?

2 of 5 are permissively licensed (MIT, Apache, BSD or similar): Memos (MIT), Joplin (MIT). 2 use copyleft licences such as GPL or AGPL, which require you to publish changes if you distribute a modified version.

Which Evernote alternatives run in Docker?

3 of 5 publish a Docker image or Compose file: Memos, SiYuan, Wiznote. Docker support contributes 10 of the 100 available health points, because it is the clearest signal that self-hosting is a supported path rather than an afterthought.