Aleph
Tool for indexing large amounts of both documents (PDF, Word, HTML) and structured (CSV, XLS, SQL) data for easy browsing and search. It is built with investigative reporting as a primary use case.
Aleph vs NoteDiscovery
Two self-hosted Knowledge Management Tools apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.
Side by side
| Aleph | NoteDiscovery | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Tool for indexing large amounts of both documents (PDF, Word, HTML) and structured (CSV, XLS, SQL) data for easy browsing and search. It is built with investigative reporting as a primary use case. | Markdown note-taking app with plain-file storage, graph view, and MCP integration (alternative to Obsidian, Notion). |
| GitHub stars | 2,501 | 2,870 |
| Forks | – | – |
| Open issues | – | – |
| Commits (12 months) | 4 | 97 |
| Last activity | 2025-12-19 | 2026-11-02 |
| Latest release | 4.1.7 (2025-10-27) | v0.34.0 (2026-11-02) |
| Maintenance health | Maintained | Active |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language / platform | Docker, K8S | Docker, Python |
| Docker Hub image | alephdata/aleph | – |
| Docker pulls | 2308.9k | – |
| Est. server size | ~2 GB, 1 vCPU | ~1 GB, 1 vCPU |
| Est. hosting from | $10/mo | $5/mo |
| Categories | Search Engines, Knowledge Management Tools | Note-taking & Editors, Knowledge Management Tools |
| Links | Website · Source | Website · Source |
What the numbers say
- Aleph and NoteDiscovery have a similar number of GitHub stars (2.5k vs 2.9k).
- NoteDiscovery had more commits in the last 12 months (97 vs 4).
- NoteDiscovery has more recent repository activity (2026-11-02 vs 2025-12-19).
- NoteDiscovery published a release more recently (v0.34.0 on 2026-11-02; Aleph's latest is 4.1.7 on 2025-10-27).
- Both are licensed under MIT.
- NoteDiscovery is written in Python; the language of Aleph is not listed upstream.
- Deployment options listed upstream: Aleph: Docker, K8S; NoteDiscovery: Docker.
- Only Aleph has a Docker Hub image that we detected (alephdata/aleph).
- Our rough hardware estimate is lighter for NoteDiscovery (~1 GB server) than Aleph (~2 GB); this is an estimate from the stack and category, not a benchmark.
Summary: Aleph leads on Docker Hub availability; NoteDiscovery leads on commit activity and recent activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.
This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.
Get the Docker images
Aleph
docker pull alephdata/alephImage on Docker Hub. Ports, volumes and environment variables differ per app; follow the official docs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Aleph or NoteDiscovery more popular?
They are close: Aleph has 2,501 GitHub stars and NoteDiscovery has 2,870 (as of 2026-11-05).
Which is more actively maintained, Aleph or NoteDiscovery?
NoteDiscovery had more commits over the last 12 months (97 vs 4). The last recorded activity was 2025-12-19 for Aleph and 2026-11-02 for NoteDiscovery. Releases in the past year: Aleph 1, NoteDiscovery 10+. Our health labels: Aleph is “Maintained”, NoteDiscovery is “Active”.
What licenses do Aleph and NoteDiscovery use?
Both use MIT.
Can I run Aleph and NoteDiscovery with Docker?
Aleph has a Docker Hub image (alephdata/aleph). We did not find one for NoteDiscovery, though the upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option.
Read more
NoteDiscovery
Markdown note-taking app with plain-file storage, graph view, and MCP integration (alternative to Obsidian, Notion).
Browse all self-hosted Knowledge Management Tools apps.