Open Source Note Taking Apps

Discover the best open source note taking apps to capture ideas, organize your thoughts. Find tools for personal or team knowledge management.

27 apps available

Apps in Note Taking

MIT
Go
51%
MIT

memos

Note Taking

63,382

Open-source, self-hosted note-taking built for quick capture — Markdown-native, lightweight, and fully yours.

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91
Repo Health
78
Technical
65
Dependency
Built with
Go 51%
TypeScript 48%
Updated 6 days ago
TypeScript
58%
MIT

open-notebook

AI Assistants · Note Taking

39,569

A privacy-first, self-hosted AI research notebook with 18+ model providers, multi-speaker podcast generation, and full REST API—your open-source alternative to Google Notebook LM.

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90
Repo Health
84
Technical
71
Dependency
Built with
TypeScript 58%
Python 39%
Updated 6 days ago
TypeScript
54%
MIT

supermemory

AI Development · AI Memory · Note Taking

30,958

The state-of-the-art memory and context engine for AI agents — ranked #1 on all three major AI memory benchmarks.

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87
Repo Health
82
Technical
68
Dependency
Built with
TypeScript 54%
MDX 31%
Python 13%
Updated 1 weeks ago
Vue
43%
MIT

Alexandrie

Collaboration · Knowledge Management · Note Taking

2,777

The open-source, offline-first Notion, Obsidian & Confluence alternative with multi-tenant teams, OIDC/SSO, and one-command Docker deployment.

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86
Repo Health
73
Technical
74
Dependency
Built with
Vue 43%
TypeScript 41%
Go 13%
Updated 1 weeks ago
TypeScript
54%
MIT

Anarlog

AI Assistants · Note Taking · Productivity

9,404

Anarlog is an open-source, local-first AI meeting notetaker that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings entirely on your device — no cloud lock-in, no mandatory account, and every note saved as a plain markdown file you own forever.

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86
Repo Health
77
Technical
68
Dependency
Built with
TypeScript 54%
Rust 34%
Updated 5 days ago
TypeScript
89%
MIT

Amical

AI Assistants · Note Taking · Voice AI

1,540

Local-first AI dictation that understands your active app — private, offline, and built for speed.

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82
Repo Health
82
Technical
68
Dependency
Built with
TypeScript 89%
Updated 1 weeks ago
JavaScript
40%
MIT

NoteDiscovery

Knowledge Management · Note Taking · Productivity

2,813

A self-hosted markdown knowledge base with MCP-powered AI integration, graph views, LaTeX math, and built-in drawing — your notes stay on your server, forever.

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80
Repo Health
59
Technical
74
Dependency
Built with
JavaScript 40%
Python 32%
HTML 24%
Updated 6 days ago
Vue
46%
MIT

flatnotes

Knowledge Management · Note Taking

3,235

Self-hosted, database-free note-taking with plain Markdown files, full-text search, wikilinks, and zero proprietary lock-in.

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71
Repo Health
64
Technical
79
Dependency
Built with
Vue 46%
Python 32%
JavaScript 13%
Updated 1 months ago
TypeScript
76%
MIT

faved

Bookmarks Archiving · Knowledge Management · Note Taking

1,318

A private, self-hosted bookmark manager built for large collections—nested tags, PWA support, and zero cloud dependency.

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65
Repo Health
60
Technical
78
Dependency
Built with
TypeScript 76%
PHP 22%
Updated 1 months ago
Rust
47%
MIT

Kuku

Note Taking

225

A local-first, open-source Markdown knowledge workspace for macOS — plain files, personal wiki and Second Brain workflows, AI-assisted diffs, and encrypted sync, built as an Obsidian alternative.

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52
Repo Health
67
Technical
67
Dependency
Built with
Rust 47%
TypeScript 40%
Updated 3 weeks ago
TypeScript
82%
MIT

OpenScreen

Design Tools · Note Taking · Productivity

39,963

Free, open-source screen recorder with zooms, annotations, and system audio capture

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52
Repo Health
85
Technical
78
Dependency
Built with
TypeScript 82%
Updated 3 months ago

About Note Taking

In today’s fast-paced world, the ability to quickly and efficiently record thoughts, ideas, and information is essential. Note taking software provides a digital space to do just that – moving beyond traditional pen and paper to offer powerful features for organization, collaboration, and long-term knowledge management. These tools are designed for a wide range of users, from students and researchers to professionals and creative writers.

Typical features include rich text editing, allowing for formatted notes with headings, lists, and multimedia. Many applications support tagging and categorization to facilitate easy searching and retrieval of information. Advanced functionality often includes linking between notes, creating a personal knowledge base, and even version control to track changes over time. Collaboration features such as shared notebooks and real-time editing enable teamwork and brainstorming.

Note taking apps solve critical problems related to information overload and disorganization. They offer a centralized location for all your thoughts and ideas, reducing the need to sift through multiple documents or physical notebooks. By providing powerful search capabilities and organization tools, these applications help you find what you need when you need it. Beyond personal productivity, collaborative features foster better teamwork and knowledge sharing within organizations. The ability to integrate with other workflows (such as task management systems) further enhances their value, making them a core component of many modern workflows.

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