Blinko vs Trilium Notes
We give Blinko a 3.0 GPA and Trilium Notes a 3.4, out of 4.0. Trilium Notes grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Blinko
AI-assisted card notes, self-hosted or on Blinko Cloud
Free plan · from $5.99/mo
Trilium Notes
Free, open-source hierarchical notes for a personal knowledge base
Free
How we grade them
| 3.0GPABlinkoVery good | 3.4GPATrilium NotesVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BBlinko Cloud Pro is $5.99 a month, billed monthly, which is bang on what this category typically starts at. It buys 10 GB of storage, a custom domain for your blog and the developer API. Pro Plus at $10.99 is the same with 25 GB. | AEntirely free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. No paid tiers, no accounts and no feature paywalls. The project accepts donations. |
| Free plan and trial | ATwo free routes. The open source edition on your own server has no storage limit but your own hardware. Blinko Cloud Free gives 100 MB of managed storage with a personal blog, nested tags, folders and full-text search. Most people could stay on either. | AEvery feature is free, in the desktop apps and the self-hosted server alike, including sync, scripting and the REST API. |
| Features | BQuick Blinks beside permanent Notes, AI that answers questions from your own notes, text you can have expanded or polished, a personal blog and share links with a password and expiry. But shared notes are read-only, and the desktop apps are described as preview builds. | ANotes nest inside notes, and one note can sit in several places in the tree. Rich text, Markdown, code, spreadsheet, canvas, diagram and mind map notes mix together, and a group can show as a calendar, table or kanban board. Selected notes can be encrypted behind a password, and revisions are kept in the background. |
| Ease of use | CWe have no store rating on record. Plain notes on Blinko Cloud are sign up and go. But the AI, which is the point, needs your own API key from a provider like OpenAI or a local Ollama model wired in. Hosting it yourself means Docker and PostgreSQL. | CNo rating on record. On one computer it's simple, as the desktop app runs without an account. But there's no official hosted version, so syncing devices means running your own server or paying a third-party host such as PikaPods. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux and Android, with webhooks, S3 storage and a plugin marketplace. But there's no iOS app yet, only a Coming soon, and the Android app is an APK download. The developer API is on the paid Cloud plans. | BDesktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, a browser extension, and browser access through your own server. There's a REST API too. But there's no official mobile app, so phones reach your server through the browser or an installed PWA. |
| Best for | quick thoughts with AI search, on your own server | a big personal knowledge base you host yourself |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Blinko and Trilium Notes. How we grade
Where they differ
- Blinko starts at $5.99 per month, billed monthly (Blinko Cloud Pro). Trilium Notes is free.
- Only Blinko lists an Android app.
- Only Trilium Notes lists a browser extension.
- Blinko also covers AI search.
- Trilium Notes also covers web clipper.
In commonFree planWebmacOSWindowsLinuxOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublic APINotesMarkdown
At a glance
| Blinko | Trilium Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $5.99 per month, billed monthly (Blinko Cloud Pro) | Free |
| Free plan | Blinko Cloud Free: 100 MB of managed storage, a personal blog, nested tags, folders and full-text search, with AI through your own API key. The self-hosted open-source edition is also free. | Entirely free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no paid tiers, accounts or feature paywalls. The project accepts donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Blinko | Elian Doran and the community |
| Price read from | blinko.space | triliumnotes.org |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Blinko
- Capturing short thoughts quickly and sorting them out later
- AI search over your own notes using your own API key
- Self-hosters who want their notes on their own server
- Publishing selected notes as a personal blog
Trilium Notes
- People building a large personal knowledge base on a desktop computer
- Self-hosters who want sync on a server they control
- Tinkerers who want to script and extend their notes app
Worth knowing
Blinko
- Blinko Cloud Free includes 100 MB of managed storage; Pro has 10 GB and Pro Plus 25 GB. Cloud plans are billed monthly.
- Custom domains, premium blog themes, the CLI, the developer API and secure sharing are listed under the paid Cloud plans.
- There is no iOS app yet (marked Coming soon), Android is an APK download and the desktop apps are described as preview builds.
- AI features need your own API key or a local model, and self-hosting leaves updates, backups and security to you.
Trilium Notes
- There is no official mobile app; phones reach a self-hosted server through the browser or an installed PWA.
- There is no official hosted version, so syncing devices means running your own server or paying a third-party host such as PikaPods.
- It is designed for a single user: real-time editing of the same notes by several people is not supported.
- Notes are kept in an SQLite database rather than plain-text files, and are not encrypted unless marked as protected.
Key features
Blinko
- Blinks and Notes
- A Blink is a quick capture for short-lived thoughts and is archived automatically after a period. A Note is permanent, with rich formatting, and a Blink can be turned into one.
- AI search and chat over your notes
- Retrieval-augmented search answers natural-language questions from your own notes, and a chat lets you ask what you recorded and follow up on a topic.
- AI writing with your own provider
- Selected text can be expanded or polished, and AI can tag notes or process new ones automatically. Providers include OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenRouter and local Ollama models.
- Personal blog and share links
- On Blinko Cloud a note can be published to a personal blog. Share links can carry an expiry time and a password, and shared notes are read-only.
- Self-hosting with Docker
- The open-source edition runs in Docker with a PostgreSQL database, so notes stay on your own server. S3 storage, webhooks, SSO and scheduled backups can be configured.
- Apps and plugins
- Desktop apps add a quick-note window and a text-selection toolbar, the Android app accepts content shared from other apps, and a plugin marketplace adds extras.
Trilium Notes
- Hierarchical notes
- Notes nest inside other notes instead of folders, and a single note can appear in several places in the tree. Labels and relations add structure.
- Many note types
- Rich text, Markdown, code, spreadsheet, canvas, Mermaid diagram, mind map and file notes can be mixed freely in the same tree.
- Collections
- Display a group of notes as a calendar, table, kanban board, map, presentation or dashboard, and switch between layouts at any time.
- Sync through your own server
- A self-hosted server syncs notes across devices, gives access from a browser and can publish a subtree of notes as a read-only website.
- Scripting and REST API
- JavaScript runs in the app or on the server to add widgets and automate work, and a built-in REST API reads, creates and updates notes over HTTP.
- Protected notes and revisions
- Selected notes can be encrypted behind a password-protected session, and periodic background revisions let you review or undo changes.
Plans
Blinko
Open Source (self-hosted)$0
The open-source edition on your own server. Storage is limited only by your infrastructure, and you manage updates, backups, security and AI providers.
Blinko Cloud Free$0
Hosted Blinko with 100 MB of managed storage, a personal blog, bring-your-own-key AI, nested tags, folders and full-text search.
Blinko Cloud Pro$5.99
per month, billed monthly
10 GB of managed storage, premium blog themes, a custom domain, no Blinko branding, the Blinko CLI, developer API and secure sharing.
Blinko Cloud Pro Plus$10.99
per month, billed monthly
25 GB of managed storage with everything in Pro, for larger note and attachment libraries.
Trilium Notes
Free$0
Every feature of the desktop apps and the self-hosted server, including sync, scripting and the REST API.
