Notes & docs · Updated October 2026
Evernote is a note-taking app for saving notes, web clips, and documents. If you would rather own your tools, here are 6 open source alternatives to Evernote, ranked by GitHub stars. Each one is free to use under its license, and you can read, change, and often self-host the code.
Memos is both the most popular, with 64k stars, and the most recently updated, with a commit on Oct 21, 2026.
| Project | Stars | License | Language | Last commit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Memos | 64k | MIT | Go | Oct 21, 2026 |
 Joplin | 56.8k | Other | TypeScript | Oct 21, 2026 |
 Logseq | 45.3k | AGPL-3.0 | Clojure | Oct 21, 2026 |
 Notesnook | 14.8k | GPL-3.0 | TypeScript | Oct 21, 2026 |
 Standard Notes | 6.7k | AGPL-3.0 | TypeScript | Oct 17, 2026 |
 SilverBullet | 6.4k | MIT | TypeScript | Oct 21, 2026 |
by usememos
Memos is an open-source, self-hosted note-taking app that brings your everyday thoughts together in a personal timeline. Your data stays yours, and you choose what to keep private or share.
by laurent22
Joplin - the privacy-focused note taking app with sync capabilities for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
by logseq
A privacy-first, open-source platform for knowledge management and collaboration. Download link: http://github.com/logseq/logseq/releases. roadmap: https://logseq.io/p/NX4mc_ggEV
by streetwriters
A fully open source & end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote.
by standardnotes
Think fearlessly with end-to-end encrypted notes and files. For issues, visit https://standardnotes.com/forum or https://standardnotes.com/help.
by silverbulletmd
The malleable knowledge base for you and your team. Powered by Markdown and Lua.
By GitHub stars, Memos is the most popular open source alternative to Evernote right now, with 64k stars, followed by Joplin and Logseq. The best fit depends on your setup, so compare their licenses, languages, and recent activity in the table above.
Yes. All 6 projects on this page are open source, so the software itself is free to use, study, and change. Some of them also sell a hosted version or paid support.
Memos (last commit Oct 21, 2026), Logseq (last commit Oct 21, 2026), and SilverBullet (last commit Oct 21, 2026) have the most recent commits. Licenses on this list include MIT, AGPL-3.0, and GPL-3.0.
