Memos and Notesnook both handle personal note capture but occupy different ends of the hosting and pricing spectrum. Memos is entirely free and open source…
Best for Memos: Memos fits people who want a lightweight, titleless, timeline-first Markdown capture tool they self-host themselves, with REST and gRPC APIs for integrations and zero telemetry by default.
Best for Notesnook: Notesnook fits people who want a hosted, end-to-end encrypted note app with structured notebooks and tags, rich editing (tables, formulas, code blocks), and the option to self-host just the sync server instead of the whole app.
At a Glance
Memos
Notesnook
Primary category
Productivity
Productivity
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Open Source
Freemium
Starting price
Free
Free; Pro from roughly $4.49/month (billed annually)
Free plan
Not documented
Yes
Free trial
Not documented
Not documented
Platforms
Web
Web, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Not documented
Not documented
Public API
Yes
Not documented
Key Differences
Pricing Model
Memos: Memos is completely free and open source (MIT license) with no paid tier documented at all.
Notesnook: Notesnook is freemium, with paid Essential (€2.11/month), Pro (€7.39/month), and Believer (€9.51/month) tiers for more storage and features.
Whether a paid tier exists at all shapes long-term costs, especially as storage needs grow.
Hosting Requirement
Memos: Memos requires self-hosting with no official cloud version - deployed as a single ~20MB Docker image, using SQLite by default or MySQL/PostgreSQL for larger setups.
Notesnook: Notesnook offers a hosted cloud service by default, with self-hosting the sync server as an optional alternative.
Whether hosting is mandatory or optional determines how much server-management burden falls on the user.
Encryption
Memos: Built-in note encryption is not documented for Memos; privacy instead relies on self-hosted infrastructure control and zero telemetry by default.
Notesnook: Notesnook encrypts notes on-device before syncing, using XChaCha20-Poly1305 and Argon2.
Client-side encryption protects notes even if the sync provider's servers are compromised.
Note Structure
Memos: Memos is deliberately minimal - a timeline of quick notes with no folders, templates, or titles.
Notesnook: Notesnook supports structured organization with notebooks, tags (up to 500 on the Essential plan), and rich editing (tables, task lists, formulas, code blocks).
A minimal timeline suits fast capture, while structured notebooks and rich editing suit longer, organized reference material.
API Access
Memos: Memos documents both REST and gRPC APIs for building integrations and automations.
Notesnook: A public API is not documented for Notesnook in the available facts.
A documented API enables developers to build custom tools and automations on top of the note data.
Feature-by-Feature
Deployment & Hosting
Feature
Memos
Notesnook
Self-hosting required
Available
Limited
Official hosted/cloud version
Unavailable
Available
Lightweight single-binary/Docker deployment
Available
Not documented
Database backend choice (SQLite/MySQL/PostgreSQL)
Available
Not documented
Organization & Editing
Feature
Memos
Notesnook
Folders/notebooks
Unavailable
Available
Tagging
Available
Available
Titles required for notes
Unavailable
Not documented
Rich editing (tables, formulas, code blocks)
Not documented
Available
Security & Extensibility
Feature
Memos
Notesnook
End-to-end encryption
Not documented
Available
REST/gRPC API
Available
Not documented
Zero telemetry by default
Available
Not documented
Password-protected vault
Not documented
Available
Free-tier storage cap documented
Not documented
Available
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Memos
Self-Hosted (Open Source) — Free N/A
Notesnook
Free — $0 Forever free
Pro — ~$1.99-$8.99/month (roughly $4.49/month billed annually) Monthly or annual billing
Pros & Cons
Memos
Pros
Completely free and open source under the MIT license
Full data ownership through self-hosting, with no vendor lock-in
Lightweight and fast, with a small resource footprint suitable for a Raspberry Pi
Simple, quick-capture timeline interface that is faster than heavier note apps for short-form notes
Active open-source community contributing translations, themes and integrations
Cons
Requires technical comfort with Docker or server administration to self-host
No official managed cloud hosting, so users are responsible for backups and uptime
Timeline-based structure is less suited to long-form documents or deeply nested wikis
Fewer built-in collaboration features than commercial team note tools
No official enterprise support contract or SLA since it is a community project
Notesnook
Pros
Fully open source, including the self-hostable sync server
Strong zero-knowledge, client-side encryption model
Affordable Pro pricing compared to many privacy-focused competitors
Feature-rich editor rather than a stripped-down 'private notes only' tool
Available across all major desktop, mobile, and web platforms
Cons
Smaller company and team size than mainstream note-taking competitors
Free plan limits notebook count and lacks version history
Smaller plugin and integration ecosystem than Evernote or Notion
Self-hosting the sync server requires technical setup
Less brand recognition outside privacy and open-source communities
Use Cases
Choose Memos: Memos fits people who want a lightweight, titleless, timeline-first Markdown capture tool they self-host themselves, with REST and gRPC APIs for integrations and zero telemetry by default.
Choose Notesnook: Notesnook fits people who want a hosted, end-to-end encrypted note app with structured notebooks and tags, rich editing (tables, formulas, code blocks), and the option to self-host just the sync server instead of the whole app.
Need both: A privacy-conscious user could self-host Memos for quick, throwaway daily logs while keeping structured, encrypted long-term notes in Notesnook - the two aren't documented to sync with each other, so this would mean maintaining two separate note stores.
Memos
Personal Daily Journaling — Individuals use Memos as a quick-capture timeline for daily thoughts, to-dos and links, similar to a personal microblog.
Self-Hosted Team Notes — Small technical teams deploy a shared Memos instance on internal infrastructure to jot down quick updates and shared references without adopting a paid SaaS tool.
Home Lab and Raspberry Pi Projects — Hobbyists running home labs use Memos as a lightweight self-hosted app alongside other services, since it requires minimal resources.
Notesnook
Private personal journaling — Individuals keep a daily journal or sensitive personal notes knowing that not even the provider can read the content.
Student and researcher note organization — Students organize class and research notes into notebooks and tags while keeping academic material encrypted and synced across devices.
Self-hosted encrypted notes — Technically capable users or small organizations self-host the open-source sync server for full control over where encrypted note data lives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Memos really free with no upsell?
Yes, Memos is completely free and open source under the MIT license with no paid tiers at all, but self-hosting is required since there's no official cloud version.
Does Notesnook have a free plan?
Yes, capped at 50MB/month storage, 50 notebooks, and 50 tags on the free tier.
Can I use Memos without running my own server?
No - Memos has no official hosted or cloud version, so self-hosting via Docker or a standalone binary is required.
Which has an API for building integrations?
Memos documents both REST and gRPC APIs. A public API is not documented for Notesnook.
Which encrypts notes end-to-end?
Notesnook, using XChaCha20-Poly1305 and Argon2. Built-in encryption is not documented for Memos.
How large is the Memos deployment footprint?
A single Go binary in an approximately 20MB Docker image, supporting SQLite by default or MySQL/PostgreSQL for larger deployments.