Best Self-Hosted Microsoft OneNote Alternatives in 2026
Microsoft OneNote is a digital notebook app with freeform note-taking, drawing, and web clipping integrated with Microsoft 365.
38 Self-Hosted Alternatives to Microsoft OneNote
AppFlowy
69KAn open-source Notion alternative with AI, wikis, projects, and databases — cross-platform (desktop, mobile, web) with offline-first architecture and full data ownership.
AFFiNE Community Edition
66KAn open-source workspace that merges docs, whiteboards, and databases into one platform — a privacy-focused alternative to Notion and Miro with AI built in.
Memos
58KA private Twitter for your brain — open, type, done. Self-hosted in 30 seconds, runs forever on a $3/month VPS.
Joplin
54KOpen-source note-taking app with end-to-end encryption, Markdown support, and sync across all devices via Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, or your own server.
SiYuan
42KSiYuan is a privacy-first, local-first personal knowledge management system with block-level references, bidirectional links, end-to-end encrypted sync, and spaced repetition.
Outline
38KThe self-hosted team wiki with a Notion-quality editor — real-time collaboration, beautiful UI, and no per-seat pricing.
TriliumNext Notes
35KTrilium is an open-source solution for note-taking and personal knowledge bases. Use it locally or sync with your own server.
Etherpad
18KEtherpad handles highly customizable online editor providing collaborative editing in real-time as a self-hosted solution.
Docs
16KCollaborative document editor with real-time editing, version control, and secure sharing
Obsidian LiveSync
9.8KObsidian LiveSync gives you community-implemented sync plugin for Obsidian on your own infrastructure.
Blinko
9.7KBlinko is a TypeScript-based application that provides personal note tool with AI features.
HedgeDoc
7KHedgeDoc lets you run realtime collaborative markdown notes on all platforms, formerly known as CodiMD and HackMD CE entirely on your own server.
Standard Notes
6.4KStandard Notes handles cross-platform note-taking app as a self-hosted solution.
Livebook
5.7KLivebook is a self-hosted note-taking replacement for Evernote, Firebase, and more.
Librum
5.3KLibrum is a self-hosted e-books & digital libraries replacement for Evernote and Microsoft OneNote.
SilverBullet
4.9KSilverBullet is a self-hosted note-taking replacement for Evernote and Microsoft OneNote.
flatnotes
2.8KReleased under MIT, flatnotes provides database-less note-taking web app that utilises a flat folder of markdown files for storage on self-hosted...
NoteDiscovery
2.4KNoteDiscovery is a JavaScript-based application that provides lightweight Obsidian-like note-taking app.
Jotty
1.7KJotty is a self-hosted note-taking tool that provides lightweight but powerful alternative for managing your personal, file based, notes and checklists.
Haptic
1.7KHaptic gives you local-first, privacy-focused home for Markdown notes on your own infrastructure.
Alexandrie
1.3KAlexandrie lets you run modern and elegant note-taking app entirely on your own server.
XWiki
1.2KXWiki is a self-hosted note-taking tool with support for Note Taking, Wiki, Workspace.
Zen Notes
1.1KZen Notes handles minimal note-taking app storing Markdown notes in local SQLite database. Features instant search as a self-hosted solution.
Journiv
981Journiv handles private journaling app as a self-hosted solution.
Many Notes
928Many Notes lets you run markdown note-taking web application designed for simplicity entirely on your own server.
Notesnook
863For note-taking, Notesnook is a self-hosted solution that provides and encrypted notes.
Anchor
726Self-hosted note-taking tool that provides offline-first note-taking app.
Nextcloud Notes
710Nextcloud Notes lets you run distraction-free notes and writing entirely on your own server.
Note Mark
628Note Mark gives you lightning fast and minimal web-based Markdown notes app on your own infrastructure.
Glass Keep
551Self-hosted note-taking tool that provides glassy Keep-style notes app.
Poznote
547Poznote gives you lightweight yet powerful web app for note-taking on your own infrastructure.
DailyTxT
455DailyTxT is a self-hosted note-taking tool that provides encrypted diary Web application to save your personal memories of each day. Includes a search.
DumbPad
432DumbPad is a JavaScript-based application that provides stupidly simple modern notepad.
Owlistic
419Self-hosted note-taking tool that provides real-time note-taking and to-do app.
Silicon Notes
265Silicon Notes is a self-hosted note-taking tool that provides web-based personal knowledge base with few frills.
Sticky
166Sticky gives you digital sticky note application for organizing thoughts, ideas, and tasks on your own infrastructure.
Nanote
150Nanote is a TypeScript-based application that provides lightweight note-taking app.
eziwiki
94For note-taking, eziwiki is a self-hosted solution that provides lightweight wiki and documentation generator.
Why Look for Microsoft OneNote Alternatives?
Microsoft OneNote is a digital notebook app with freeform note-taking, drawing, and web clipping integrated with Microsoft 365.
Self-hosted alternatives give you full data ownership, predictable costs, and zero vendor lock-in. You run the software on your own infrastructure and control everything.
38 Best Open-Source Alternatives to Microsoft OneNote
AppFlowy
AppFlowy: Open-source AI-powered workspace. — 68,609 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
AFFiNE Community Edition
AFFiNE: Docs, whiteboards, databases in one. — 66,033 GitHub stars. Licensed under NOASSERTION.
Read full AFFiNE Community Edition review
Memos
Note-taking app built for instant capture — 57,913 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Joplin
Secure note-taking and to-do app — 53,917 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management software — 41,894 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Outline
Organize your team’s knowledge effortlessly with Outline. — 37,619 GitHub stars. Licensed under Custom.
TriliumNext Notes
Hierarchical note-taking and knowledge base app — 35,058 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Read full TriliumNext Notes review
Etherpad
Modern, real-time collaborative document editor. — 18,181 GitHub stars. Licensed under Apache-2.0.
Docs
Collaborative note-taking, wiki, and documentation platform — 16,253 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Obsidian LiveSync
Community-implemented sync plugin for Obsidian — 9,798 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Read full Obsidian LiveSync review
Blinko
Personal AI note-taking tool — 9,705 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
HedgeDoc
Web-based, self-hosted, real-time markdown editor. — 7,007 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Standard Notes
Encrypted note-taking app for digitalists — 6,350 GitHub stars. Licensed under GPL-3.0.
Read full Standard Notes review
Livebook
Interactive and collaborative code notebooks — 5,739 GitHub stars. Licensed under Apache-2.0.
Librum
Application designed to make reading enjoyable and straightforward for everyone — 5,279 GitHub stars. Licensed under GPL-3.0.
SilverBullet
Note-taking application optimized for people with a hacker mindset — 4,860 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
flatnotes
Database-less note-taking web app — 2,810 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
NoteDiscovery
Lightweight Obsidian-like note-taking app — 2,367 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Read full NoteDiscovery review
Jotty
Simple app for checklists and notes — 1,689 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Haptic
Local-first, privacy-focused home for Markdown notes — 1,653 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Alexandrie
Modern and elegant note-taking app — 1,300 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
XWiki
Light and powerful collaboration and documentation platform — 1,217 GitHub stars. Licensed under LGPL-2.1.
Zen Notes
Simple Markdown note-taking app — 1,063 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Journiv
Private journaling app — 976 GitHub stars. Licensed under Custom.
Many Notes
Markdown note-taking app designed for simplicity — 924 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Notesnook
Open source and encrypted notes — 861 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Anchor
Offline-first note-taking app — 716 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Nextcloud Notes
Distraction-free notes and writing — 706 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Read full Nextcloud Notes review
Note Mark
Lightning fast and minimal web-based Markdown notes app — 631 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Glass Keep
Glassy Keep-style notes app — 548 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Poznote
Lightweight yet powerful web app for note-taking — 539 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
DailyTxT
Encrypted daily diary and journaling app — 453 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
DumbPad
Stupidly simple modern notepad — 430 GitHub stars. Licensed under GPL-3.0.
Owlistic
Real-time note-taking and to-do app — 419 GitHub stars. Licensed under GPL-3.0.
Silicon Notes
Web-based personal knowledge base with few frills — 265 GitHub stars. Licensed under Custom.
Read full Silicon Notes review
Sticky
Digital sticky note application for organizing thoughts, ideas, and tasks — 166 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Nanote
Lightweight note-taking app — 149 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
eziwiki
Lightweight wiki and documentation generator — 94 GitHub stars. Licensed under MIT.
Why Self-Host Instead of Microsoft OneNote?
- Data ownership. Your data stays on your server, not on Microsoft OneNote’s infrastructure.
- Predictable costs. Pay a fixed VPS cost instead of growing per-user or per-usage fees.
- No vendor lock-in. Export and migrate your data anytime. You control the database.
- GDPR and compliance. Hosting your own tools simplifies data residency and compliance requirements.
How much can you save?
Microsoft OneNote (Microsoft 365 Personal)
$10/mo
Billed monthly
$120/year
AppFlowy (self-hosted)
$10/mo
VPS hosting only. $0 per-user fees.
$320 year 1 (incl. $200 setup)
Your annual savings
$0
At this scale the setup cost offsets savings in year 1. Year 2+: -$0/year.
AppFlowy runs on a $10/mo VPS with unlimited users. Setup by upready.dev starts at $200 (one-time). Microsoft OneNote pricing as of March 2026.
Why teams switch from Microsoft OneNote
- → Data ownership. Your data stays on your server -- not on Microsoft OneNote's infrastructure.
- → Predictable costs. Pay a fixed VPS cost instead of growing per-user or per-usage fees.
- → No vendor lock-in. Export and migrate your data anytime. You control the database.
- → GDPR and compliance. Hosting your own tools simplifies data residency and compliance requirements.
Head-to-Head Comparisons
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 3 unique features, Calibre Web Automated has 3.
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 4 unique features, DSpace has 3.
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 3 unique features, Etherpad has 5.
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 3 unique features, NoteDiscovery has 3.
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 4 unique features, Silicon Notes has 3.
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 4 unique features, Logseq has 3.
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 4 unique features, Stirling-PDF has 4.
Both are document management tools. AFFiNE Community Edition has 4 unique features, SiYuan has 3.
Both are document management tools. Anchr has 6 unique features, Memos has 5.
Both are document management tools. Anchr has 6 unique features, SiYuan has 1.
Both are document management tools. Autocaliweb has 3 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. BentoPDF has 2 unique features, Memos has 5.
BookStack for structured documentation (books/chapters/pages hierarchy). Outline for team knowledge bases with a Notion-like editing experience. Both are excellent -- your choice depends on content structure preference.
Both are document management tools. BookHaven has 4 unique features, Memos has 4.
Both are document management tools. Briefkasten has 3 unique features, Memos has 4.
Both are document management tools. Briefkasten has 4 unique features, SiYuan has 1.
Both are document management tools. Calibre Web Automated has 3 unique features, Memos has 6.
Both are document management tools. Calibre Web Automated has 2 unique features, SiYuan has 1.
Both are document management tools. Colanode has 3 unique features, Memos has 3.
Both are document management tools. Crawl4AI has 3 unique features, flatnotes has 6.
Both are document management tools. Crawl4AI has 3 unique features, Nanote has 6.
Both are document management tools. Crawl4AI has 3 unique features, NoteDiscovery has 3.
Both are document management tools. Docspell has 2 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. Docuseal has 4 unique features, Memos has 3.
Both are document management tools. Docspell has 2 unique features, Memos has 6.
Both are document management tools. Documenso has 1 unique feature, Memos has 4.
Both are document management tools. DSpace has 2 unique features, Memos has 6.
Both are document management tools. DSpace has 2 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. Etherpad has 4 unique features, Memos has 5.
Both are document management tools. Etherpad has 5 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. Glass Keep has 3 unique features, Logseq has 1.
Both are document management tools. Glass Keep has 3 unique features, SiYuan has 1.
Both are document management tools. Grimoire has 7 unique features, Memos has 5.
Both are document management tools. Huly has 4 unique features, SiYuan has 3.
Both are document management tools. HymnoScribe has 2 unique features, Memos has 6.
Both are document management tools. Jelu has 5 unique features, Memos has 5.
Both are document management tools. Karakeep HomeDash has 3 unique features, Memos has 6.
Both are document management tools. Logseq has 2 unique features, Silicon Notes has 2.
Both are document management tools. Logseq has 2 unique features, Poznote has 3.
Both are document management tools. Logseq has 2 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. Logseq has 1 unique feature, TriliumNext Notes has 3.
Both are document management tools. Mantium has 2 unique features, Memos has 6.
Both are document management tools. Memos has 6 unique features, NeonLink has 2.
Both are document management tools. Memos has 6 unique features, Poznote has 3.
Both are document management tools. Memos has 6 unique features, Shiori has 4.
Both are document management tools. Memos has 6 unique features, Silicon Notes has 2.
Both are document management tools. Minne has 2 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. NoteDiscovery has 3 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. NoteDiscovery has 4 unique features, Stirling-PDF has 4.
Both Outline and Wiki.js are strong open-source options in the documents space. Outline has 38k GitHub stars and Wiki.js has 28k. Compare their features, deployment, and community to choose the right fit for your needs.
Both are document management tools. Poznote has 3 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. Poznote has 4 unique features, Stirling-PDF has 4.
Both are document management tools. Silicon Notes has 2 unique features, SiYuan has 2.
Both are document management tools. SiYuan has 2 unique features, Trilium Notes has 4.
Both are document management tools. SiYuan has 2 unique features, TriliumNext Notes has 4.
Both are document management tools. TriliumNext Notes has 3 unique features, Xournalpp has 5.
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