Trilium Notes
A free, open-source app for building a large, hierarchical personal knowledge base.
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- 4 of 4
- Alternatives ranked
- 6
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- 0
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About Trilium Notes
Trilium Notes is an open-source desktop app and self-hosted server for building a deep personal knowledge base. Notes sit in a tree where one note can appear in several places, and you can add attributes, relations, templates, note maps and collections such as tables, boards and calendars. It handles rich text, code, canvas drawings, Mermaid diagrams and file attachments, can encrypt selected notes, and has scripting for people who want to automate their notes, plus optional AI with your own key. It is now maintained by the TriliumNext community after the original developer stepped back, and it is free under the AGPL licence with no paid tiers. You can use it locally with no account, or run the server with Docker to sync and reach notes from a browser. The drawbacks are no official mobile app, an interface that feels dated next to newer apps, and the work of hosting your own sync. It suits tinkerers with big note collections.
Best for: Tinkerers who want a large, scriptable knowledge base on their own server.
Pros and cons
What works
- Free and open source with no paid tiers
- Handles very large hierarchical note trees
- Scripting, templates and relations
- Works offline with no account
Why people leave
- No official mobile app
- You host your own sync server
- Interface feels dated
Top Trilium Notes alternatives
See all 6- 1
Joplin76.8Open-source notes with official mobile apps and easy sync options.
- 2
SiYuan72.1Open-source, self-hostable, with mobile apps and block references.
- 3
Obsidian67.8Local Markdown files with polished apps on every platform.
- 4
Logseq67.4A free outliner with backlinks if you prefer links over a tree.
- 5
SilverBullet64.7Self-hosted Markdown notes in the browser that you can script with Lua.
Why people left Trilium Notes
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Trilium Notes: common questions
Is Trilium Notes free?
Yes. Trilium Notes is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.
Is Trilium Notes open source?
Yes. The source code is on GitHub at TriliumNext/Trilium. You can also run it on your own server.
What platforms does Trilium Notes run on?
Trilium Notes is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Web and Self-hosted.
What are the best alternatives to Trilium Notes?
The highest-ranked Trilium Notes alternatives right now are Joplin, SiYuan and Obsidian. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.