Self-hosted alternatives to Obsidian
Want linked Markdown notes without handing your data to Obsidian? These 30 self-hosted apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
About Obsidian: Local-first Markdown note-taking app with links and a graph view.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NoteDiscovery direct | Active | 2.9k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Memos | Active | 64.3k | MIT | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Joplin | Active | 57k | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| SiYuan | Active | 47.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Outline | Active | 41.2k | BUSL-1.1 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| TriliumNext Notes | Active | 38.7k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Wiki.js | Active | 29.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| docmost Community Edition | Active | 22.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Docs | Active | 17k | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Blinko | Active | 11.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| TiddlyWiki | Active | 8.7k | BSD-3-Clause | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| HedgeDoc | Active | 7.5k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Standard Notes | Active | 6.7k | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| SilverBullet | Active | 6.5k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Livebook | Active | 5.9k | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Dokuwiki | Active | 4.7k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| flatnotes | Active | 3.3k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Gitit | Active | 2.3k | GPL-2.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Zim | Active | 2.2k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Jotty | Active | 2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| django-wiki | Active | 1.9k | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Atomic Server | Active | 1.6k | MIT | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Otter Wiki | Active | 1.6k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| XWiki | Active | 1.3k | LGPL-2.1 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| bewCloud | Active | 1.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| LeafWiki | Active | 1.2k | MIT | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Many Notes | Active | 1.1k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Note Mark | Active | 774 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Wiki-Go | Active | 625 | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Raneto | Maintained | 2.9k | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. NoteDiscovery
Markdown note-taking app with plain-file storage, graph view, and MCP integration (alternative to Obsidian, Notion).
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v0.34.0 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Memos
Knowledge base that works with a SQLite db file.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release 26.11.0 (2026-11-01). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
3. Joplin
Note taking application with markdown editor and encryption support for mobile and desktop platforms. Runs client-side and syncs through your own Nextcloud instance or similar (alternative to Evernote).
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release v3.7.22 (2026-10-28). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management software, written in typescript and golang.
Active Last commit 2026-10-29. Latest release v3.8.10-alpha.5 (2026-11-03). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
5. Outline
Extensible wiki for your team.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release v1.12.0 (2026-10-23). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. TriliumNext Notes
Cross-platform hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases (fork of Trilium Notes).
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v0.106.1 (2026-10-23). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Wiki.js
Modern, lightweight and powerful wiki app using Git and Markdown.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release 3.0.2 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. docmost Community Edition
Collaborative wiki and documentation software (alternative to Confluence, Notion).
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v0.97.0 (2026-10-25). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. Docs
Collaborative note taking, wiki and documentation platform that scales.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v6.0.4 (2026-10-26). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. Blinko
Personal note tool with AI features.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 1.8.8 (2026-06-20). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. TiddlyWiki
Reusable non-linear personal web notebook.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v5.4.1 (2026-07-10). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. HedgeDoc
Realtime collaborative markdown notes on all platforms, formerly known as CodiMD and HackMD CE.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 1.12.2 (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Standard Notes
Simple and private notes app. Protect your privacy while getting more done. That's Standard Notes.
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. Latest release @standardnotes/mobile@3.203.0 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. SilverBullet
Note-taking application optimized for people with a hacker mindset.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 2.12.1 (2026-10-12). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. Livebook
Realtime collaborative notebook app based on Markdown that supports running Elixir code snippets, TeX and Mermaid Diagrams. Easily deployed using Docker or Elixir.
Active Last commit 2026-10-26. Latest release nightly (2024-10-25). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. Dokuwiki
Easy to use, lightweight, standards-compliant wiki engine with a simple syntax allowing reading the data outside the wiki. All data is stored in plain text files, therefore no database is required.
Active Last commit 2026-09-29. 4 releases in the past year. Latest release release-2026-07-14c (2026-09-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
17. flatnotes
Database-less note-taking web app that utilises a flat folder of markdown files for storage.
Active Last commit 2026-08-29. 1 release in the past year. Latest release v5.5.5 (2026-08-29). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
18. Gitit
Wiki program that stores pages and uploaded files in a git repository, which can then be modified using the VCS command line tools or the wiki's web interface.
Active Last commit 2026-10-25. Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
19. Zim
Graphical text editor used to maintain a collection of wiki pages. Each page can contain links to other pages, simple formatting and images.
Active Last commit 2026-10-24. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
20. Jotty
Lightweight but powerful alternative for managing your personal, file based, notes and checklists.
Active Last commit 2026-10-25. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 1.29.2 (2026-10-25). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
21. django-wiki
Wiki system with complex functionality for simple integration and a superb interface. Store your knowledge with style: Use django models.
Active Last commit 2026-10-16. 1 release in the past year. Latest release releases/0.13 (2026-07-31). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
22. Atomic Server
Knowledge graph database with documents (similar to Notion), tables, search, and a powerful linked data API. Lightweight, very fast and no runtime dependencies.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release v0.41.0-beta.8 (2026-10-15). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
23. Otter Wiki
Simple, easy to use wiki software using markdown.
Active Last commit 2026-11-01. Latest release v2.26.2 (2026-11-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
24. XWiki
Second generation wiki that allows the user to extend its functionalities with a powerful extension-based architecture.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release xwiki-platform-18.4.8 (2026-11-03). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
25. bewCloud
File sharing + sync, notes, and photos (alternative to Nextcloud and ownCloud's RSS reader).
Active Last commit 2026-10-18. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v4.21.0 (2026-10-18). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
26. LeafWiki
Fast wiki for people who think in folders, not feeds. Fast editing. Tree navigation. Markdown on disk.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v0.14.2 (2026-10-22). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
27. Many Notes
Markdown note-taking web application designed for simplicity.
Active Last commit 2026-10-22. 9 releases in the past year. Latest release v0.18.1 (2026-10-22). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
28. Note Mark
Minimal web-based Markdown notes app.
Active Last commit 2026-10-02. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.1.1 (2026-10-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
29. Wiki-Go
Modern, feature-rich, databaseless flat-file wiki platform.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release v1.9.2 (2026-09-22). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
30. Raneto
Knowledgebase platform that uses static Markdown files.
Maintained Last commit 2026-03-18. Latest release 0.18.1 (2026-03-11). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Obsidian?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
Obsidian is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.