Trilium

Open source alternative to Notion, Obsidian and Roam Research

38.4K stars
AGPL-3.0
Active this week
Last commit today

Last verified Oct 21, 2026

Build and organize a hierarchical personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes, a self-hosted, AGPL-licensed note-taking app with scripting and sync.

Visit website GitHub38.4K Deploy on Hostinger

Read the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs, the quick start and the FAQ

who it's for

Who Trilium is for#

Researchers building large personal knowledge archives

Trilium Notes handles over 100,000 notes and lets you express relationships between them as typed links, not just tags. Researchers can build citation networks, link people to projects, and query those connections with saved searches or scripts. The web clipper and import pipeline bring in material from external sources.

Skip if:

If you need to share work in progress with collaborators or co-authors in real time, Trilium Notes does not support multi-user editing. A shared wiki tool like Outline or a Notion team plan is a better fit for collaborative research.

Developers who want a scriptable, API-driven knowledge base

Trilium Notes runs JavaScript in both the frontend and backend, with a typed REST API for external integrations. Developers can build custom dashboards inside notes, trigger automations on note events, connect external tools via the API, or expose their knowledge base to AI assistants over MCP.

Skip if:

If you want a plain-text, file-based note system where notes are Markdown files in a folder compatible with Git and other editors, Trilium Notes uses SQLite instead of files. File-based systems are simpler to version control and back up with standard tools.

Privacy-conscious users migrating from Notion or Evernote

Trilium Notes imports from Evernote and supports HTML import for Notion exports. After migration, notes are stored locally with no cloud dependency. Sensitive notes can be individually encrypted with AES-128-CBC and locked behind a password-protected session.

Skip if:

If you rely on Notion's shared databases, real-time team editing, or its integrations with Slack and GitHub, Trilium Notes replaces only the personal wiki side of Notion, not its team workspace features.

Self-hosters who want a fully controlled sync server

The Trilium Notes server image runs on Docker with no external service dependencies. You control the sync server, the database, and backups. A server install adds cross-device sync via browser and PWA, public note sharing as read-only websites, and MFA options (TOTP or OpenID Connect).

Skip if:

If managing a Docker container is not something you want to do, third-party providers like PikaPods offer managed Trilium Notes hosting. The desktop app also works fully offline without any server.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Personal knowledge accumulates faster than flat note apps can organize it. After a few hundred notes in tools like Notion or Evernote, users face the same problems: no hierarchy beyond folders, no links between related concepts, and data stored on servers they do not control. Changing pricing, service shutdowns, or a policy revision can put years of accumulated notes at risk.

The deeper problem is that most note-taking tools are designed around documents, not knowledge graphs. You can create notes and tag them, but you cannot express that a meeting note references a project, which references three people, and query that network. The result is a growing pile of notes that becomes harder to navigate as it grows, not easier.

how Trilium solves it

How it solves it#

Hierarchical note tree with multi-location cloning

Notes organize into an arbitrarily deep tree with no folder limit. A single note can appear in multiple places via cloning without duplication, so a meeting note can live under both a project and a person. The tree is the navigation structure, not a folder metaphor on top of flat files.

Multiple note types in one tree

Trilium Notes offers multiple note types: rich WYSIWYG text with tables and math, Markdown, code with syntax highlighting, spreadsheet, Excalidraw canvas, Mermaid diagram, mind map (Mind Elixir), and geo map with GPX tracks. Note types mix freely within the same tree, so one project can hold text notes, diagrams, and a Kanban board as siblings.

JavaScript scripting and REST API

Scripts run in both the frontend and backend. You can trigger automations on note events (creation, attribute changes), schedule backend scripts, build custom UI widgets, or render interactive dashboards inside a note. The typed REST API (ETAPI) lets external tools read, create, and update notes over HTTP.

Note labels, relations, and structured attributes

Any note can carry labels (key-value pairs) and typed relations to other notes. Promoted attributes define structured fields that display as form inputs on a note, making it possible to build table and Kanban views directly from your note data without a separate database tool.

Opt-in AI with your own API keys

AI is disabled by default and never sends notes anywhere automatically. When enabled, you connect your own OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google key, or point to a self-hosted OpenAI-compatible model. Trilium Notes also exposes notes over MCP so external AI assistants can read and write your knowledge base.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

Local-first: no account, no subscriptionThe desktop app runs entirely offline and stores notes in a local SQLite database. No account is required to use any feature except sync, and sync requires only a server you run yourself. This contrasts with Notion (cloud-first, limited offline) and Obsidian (sync is a paid add-on).
Designed to scale to 100,000+ notesThe app handles over 100,000 notes without usability or performance degradation, per the project documentation. The SQLite backend and tree navigation are built for long-term knowledge accumulation. Most consumer note apps begin degrading in search and navigation well before that scale.
Active community continuation with 38,000+ GitHub starsThe original Trilium developer donated the repository to the TriliumNext community after stepping back. TriliumNext/Trilium has over 38,000 GitHub stars, daily commits, a nightly build channel, and an active primary maintainer (eliandoran). The governance handoff is documented and the project is not at risk of silent abandonment.
Import and export in open formatsTrilium Notes imports from Evernote, Markdown, HTML, and OPML with structure intact, and exports the entire note tree in the same formats at any time. Notes are never locked in a proprietary binary. You can migrate in from another app and migrate back out without data loss.

Trade-offs

-Single-user only: no real-time collaborationTrilium Notes is designed for one person. Multiple users can view notes published as public websites, but real-time editing of the same notes by multiple people is not supported. The project FAQ states this directly. If your primary use case is a team wiki or collaborative knowledge base, Trilium Notes is not the right tool.
-No official mobile appThere is no official Trilium Notes app for iOS or Android. Mobile access requires the server's web interface in a browser or as a PWA. Unofficial apps exist (TriliumDroid for Android, Pocket Trilium for Android, Trinote for iOS), but they are community-maintained and may lag behind server releases.
-SQLite database cannot be shared over a network driveThe note database is a single SQLite file. Sharing it via Dropbox, NFS, or similar file sync tools can corrupt it due to imperfect file locking over networks. The supported cross-device sync path is the Trilium Notes server; bypassing it by syncing the raw database file risks data loss.

versus alternatives

Trilium vs alternatives#

Trilium Notes vs Notion

Notion is a cloud-first team workspace; Trilium Notes is a local-first personal knowledge base. The overlap is note taking and information organization, but the target audiences diverge sharply.

Feature	Trilium Notes	Notion
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Self-hosting	Yes (Docker)	No
Offline use	Yes (desktop app)	Limited
Multi-user editing	No	Yes
Scripting	JavaScript (frontend + backend)	Limited automations
Price	Free (self-hosted)	Free tier + paid plans per seat

Trilium Notes is the better choice when data ownership and offline operation matter more than team features. The AGPL license means no subscription, no per-seat pricing, and no service risk. Notion is still the better fit for teams that need real-time collaboration, shared databases, and integrations with Slack, GitHub, and project management tools that Trilium Notes does not cover.

Trilium Notes vs Obsidian

Both Obsidian and Trilium Notes are personal knowledge base apps that run locally. The main architectural difference is how notes are stored. Obsidian uses plain Markdown files in a folder; Trilium Notes uses a SQLite database.

Feature	Trilium Notes	Obsidian
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary (app free, sync paid)
Storage	SQLite database	Plain Markdown files
Self-hosted sync	Yes (free)	Paid add-on
Scripting	Built-in JavaScript API	Community plugins
Note cloning	Yes	No
Mobile app	Unofficial (TriliumDroid, Trinote)	Official iOS + Android

Obsidian's plain-text storage makes notes easy to version control with Git, back up with any file sync tool, and open in any Markdown editor. If portability to other tools is the top priority, Obsidian's format is simpler. Trilium Notes's SQLite backend enables relational features (note cloning, typed relations, JavaScript scripting against the graph) that Obsidian cannot match natively, and its self-hosted sync server is free where Obsidian Sync is a paid add-on.

install · quick start

Quick start#

bash

Self-hosting uses the official Docker image from Docker Hub.
```bash
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 triliumnext/trilium
```

tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages: JavaScriptTypeScript
Frameworks: Electron
Tooling: esbuild

frequently asked

FAQ#

Is Trilium Notes free?

Yes. Trilium Notes is AGPL-3.0 licensed, free to download and self-host, with no paid tiers or feature paywalls. The desktop app requires no account. The sync server is also free to run yourself; third-party managed hosting providers like PikaPods offer a paid option if you would rather not manage your own server.

Does Trilium Notes have a mobile app?

There is no official mobile app. On mobile, you access a server install through a web browser or install it as a PWA. Unofficial Android apps include TriliumDroid (offline-capable) and Pocket Trilium (a full Trilium instance on the device). Trinote is an unofficial open source iOS client that supports reading and editing all note types.

How is Trilium Notes different from Obsidian?

Obsidian stores notes as plain Markdown files (easy to version control with Git and back up with any file tool), while Trilium Notes uses a SQLite database (better for relational structure and note cloning). Obsidian Sync is a paid add-on; Trilium Notes sync is free to self-host. Trilium Notes has built-in JavaScript scripting and a REST API that Obsidian lacks natively.

Can multiple people edit the same Trilium Notes instance?

No. Trilium Notes is designed as a single-user application. Multiple users can view notes you publish as public read-only websites, but real-time multi-user editing of the same notes is not supported. Each user who wants to edit notes needs their own instance.

What is TriliumNext and how does it relate to the original Trilium project?

The original Trilium developer (zadam) donated the repository to the TriliumNext community after stepping back from active maintenance. TriliumNext/Trilium is the current active fork and the version recommended for new users; zadam/Trilium is archived. Migration is straightforward: install TriliumNext and it uses your existing database. Versions above v0.90.4 increment the sync version, so recent TriliumNext releases require an explicit migration step.

Looking for more

Other ways to replace Notion, Obsidian and Roam Research#

AppFlowy

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Macro Docs

#4 in the Notion guide

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Trilium Notes vs Notion

Notion is a cloud-first team workspace; Trilium Notes is a local-first personal knowledge base. The overlap is note taking and information organization, but the target audiences diverge sharply.

Feature	Trilium Notes	Notion
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Self-hosting	Yes (Docker)	No
Offline use	Yes (desktop app)	Limited
Multi-user editing	No	Yes
Scripting	JavaScript (frontend + backend)	Limited automations
Price	Free (self-hosted)	Free tier + paid plans per seat

Trilium Notes vs Obsidian

Feature	Trilium Notes	Obsidian
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary (app free, sync paid)
Storage	SQLite database	Plain Markdown files
Self-hosted sync	Yes (free)	Paid add-on
Scripting	Built-in JavaScript API	Community plugins
Note cloning	Yes	No
Mobile app	Unofficial (TriliumDroid, Trinote)	Official iOS + Android