# Alternatives to Trilium Notes

Self-hostable hierarchical note tree with scripting.

Trilium Notes ranks #4 of 22 in Personal knowledge management, with an Alt Score of 84. It is licensed under AGPL-3.0, free and available on Windows, macOS, Linux and Web. 14 of 14 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/trilium-notes/
Category: Personal knowledge management

## Where Trilium Notes stands out

- **Version history** — 7 of 14 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Markdown support** — 8 of 22 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Local-first storage** — 10 of 22 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: People and small organizations building a large personal or team knowledge base (tens of thousands of notes) who want full control over where their data is hosted rather than relying on a cloud note-taking service.
- **What you get**: A WYSIWYG/markdown editor for notes organized in an arbitrarily deep tree, with notes able to appear in multiple places via cloning. Includes full-text search, per-note encryption, automatic note revisions, custom attributes for organizing and querying notes, and built-in scripting for automation. It also supports non-text note types like code notes with syntax highlighting, canvas sketches (Excalidraw), mind maps, relation maps, and geomaps.
- **How it works**: You install it as a desktop app (Windows/macOS/Linux), a browser client, or self-host the server (e.g. via Docker), then build up a hierarchy of notes and sub-notes. A self-hosted sync server keeps multiple installs in sync across devices, and individual notes can optionally be shared or published to the public internet.

## Profile

- **License**: AGPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-12)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-12)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-12)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Craft](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/craft.md) | 87 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [Heptabase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/heptabase.md) | 87 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 3 | [AppFlowy](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/appflowy.md) | 84 | AGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 4 | [Logseq](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/logseq.md) | 81 | AGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 5 | [Notion](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/notion.md) | 81 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [Anytype](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/anytype.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 7 | [Obsidian](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/obsidian.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 8 | [Supernotes](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/supernotes.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 9 | [Tana](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tana.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 10 | [xTiles](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/xtiles.md) | 74 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 11 | [acreom](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/acreom.md) | 71 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 12 | [Capacities](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/capacities.md) | 71 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 13 | [Coda](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/coda.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Web, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 14 | [Walling](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/walling.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS |
| 15 | [Workflowy](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/workflowy.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 16 | [Dendron](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/dendron.md) | 65 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 17 | [Reflect](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/reflect.md) | 65 | Proprietary | Web, macOS, iOS, Windows |
| 18 | [Mem](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mem.md) | 61 | Proprietary | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS |
| 19 | [Roam Research](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/roam-research.md) | 61 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android, macOS |
| 20 | [Org-mode](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/org-mode.md) | 59 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 21 | [Foam](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/foam.md) | 55 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Personal knowledge management checklist | Trilium Notes | Craft | Heptabase | AppFlowy | Logseq | Notion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Subscription | OSS + paid hosting | Free | Freemium |
| Starts at | ? | $10/month | $8.99/month | $10/user/month | $5/month | €9.50/member/month |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web, Browser extension |
| Markdown support | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Block-based editing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backlinks / graph view | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Partial |
| Databases & tables | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Templates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time collaboration | No | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Web clipper | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Sync between devices (native) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Local-first storage | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Plugins / extensions | Partial | Partial | No | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Daily notes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Task management built in | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Publish to web | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Version history | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Trilium Notes. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, Web — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Windows / MacOS”
- **License**: AGPL-3.0 — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the L”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Trilium Notes is a free and open-source, cross-platform hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases.”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “The original Trilium developer (Zadam) has graciously given the Trilium repository to the community project which resides at https://github.com/TriliumNext”
- **Markdown support**: Yes — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Evernote and Markdown import & export”
- **Block-based editing**: No — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/note-types/text> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Trilium uses a commercial product (with an open-source base) called CKEditor. This brings the benefit of having a powerful WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor.”
- **Backlinks / graph view**: Yes — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/note-types/note-map> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Once created, the note map will display the relations between notes.”
- **Databases & tables**: Yes — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/collections> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Collections are a unique type of note that don't have content, but instead display their child notes in various presentation methods.”
- **Templates**: Yes — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/advanced-usage/template> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “A template in Trilium serves as a predefined structure for other notes, referred to as instance notes.”
- **Real-time collaboration**: No — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/faq> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Common request is to allow multiple users collaborate, share notes etc. So far I'm resisting this because of these reasons”
- **Web clipper**: Yes — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Web Clipper for easy saving of web content”
- **Sync between devices (native)**: Yes — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Synchronization with self-hosted sync server”
- **Local-first storage**: Yes — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/setup/synchronization> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Trilium is an offline-first note-taking application that stores all data locally on the desktop client.”
- **Plugins / extensions**: Partial — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “for 3rd party themes, scripts, plugins and more.”
- **Daily notes**: Yes — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/advanced-usage/advanced-showcases/day-notes> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Trilium semi-automatically generates a single note for each day. Under this note you can save all those relevant notes.”
- **Task management built in**: Yes — <https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/advanced-usage/advanced-showcases/task-manager> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Task Manager manages outstanding (TODO) tasks and finished tasks (non-empty doneDate attribute).”
- **Publish to web**: Yes — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Sharing (publishing) notes to public internet”
- **Version history**: Yes — <https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Seamless note versioning”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/