Docmost vs Trilium Notes (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Trilium Notes grades higher than Docmost: 3.2 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Docmost grades higher on features. Trilium Notes grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Docmost
Open-source collaborative wiki you deploy on your own servers
Trilium Notes
Open-source hierarchical note-taking and personal knowledge base
Which one is for you
Pick Docmost if
- Fits if your documentation has to stay on your own servers, even air-gapped ones
- Works for teams leaving Notion for a self-hosted wiki, since Notion import is in the free edition
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a hosted wiki, because Docmost only comes as something you run yourself
- Tight if you're staying free and need SSO, MFA, AI, templates or page-level permissions
- Pricey if you're a team of three, since Business has a 10-seat minimum and is billed annually
- Watch out: no monthly price is shown, and SCIM, audit logs and SIEM are Enterprise only at a custom price
- Not for you if you want phone or desktop apps, as none are on record
Pick Trilium Notes if
- Fits if you want your notes on your own computer with no account
- Works for people who like organising notes in a tree rather than folders
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want native iPhone or Android apps, as phones use a web app on a server
- Tight if you want sync without running a server, since the paid host listed is third-party
- Not for you if you want a team wiki with shared editing, as the listing describes a personal notes app
- Watch out: the old TriliumNext docs repository is archived and the project now lives at triliumnotes.org
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADocmostGood | 3.2GPATrilium NotesVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BBusiness is $6 a seat a month, inside the cheapest quarter of this category, and it adds SSO, page-level permissions, Bases, Kanban and AI. It's billed annually with a 10-seat minimum, so the smallest real bill is ten seats for a year, and you're still running the server yourself. | AFree under the AGPL-3.0 license, and you can just download the desktop apps and use them, so it is under the category's cheapest quarter. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe Open Source edition is free under AGPL-3.0 and includes the editor, real-time collaboration, unlimited spaces, groups, page history, comments, diagrams, public sharing, full-text search and Notion import. SSO, MFA, templates and page-level permissions belong to Business. | AFree outright with no account and no paid plan from the team. |
| Features | BLive editing with cursors, a slash menu with tables, code blocks and equations, unlimited spaces with their own permissions and groups, Draw.io, Excalidraw and Mermaid diagrams inside a page, Bases and Kanban for structured content, and AI answers with citations that can run on your own model. The wiki job, covered. | CNote tree, many note types, search, a REST API, scripting and a web clipper. The listing shows a gap: syncing across devices needs a self-hosted server. |
| Ease of use | DThere's no hosted version at all: the pricing page covers self-managed editions only, so somebody has to deploy Docmost on your own infrastructure and keep it running, air-gapped or not. | BNo store rating on record, but you install a desktop app and start writing with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web app with Figma, Airtable, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Miro, Loom, Typeform and Draw.io connected, and API keys on the Business edition. No phone or desktop apps are on record. | BWindows, Mac and Linux apps plus a web app for phones, and a REST API. No native phone apps. |
| Best for | a wiki on your own servers | a free note tree you keep on your own machine |
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: Docmost and Trilium Notes. How we grade
Price against what you get
Docmost starts at $6 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Trilium Notes has no paid plan and scores 2.7.
Trilium Notes scores higher and starts $6 a month lower. Of the other docs and wiki tools on the chart, 7 score higher than Docmost for less, and none scores higher than Trilium Notes for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Docmost also covers AI search, databases and diagrams.
- Trilium Notes also covers notes and web clipper.
At a glance
| Docmost | Trilium Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $6 per seat / month, billed annually (Business, 10-seat minimum) | Free |
| Free plan | Open Source edition (AGPL-3.0): the editor, real-time collaboration, unlimited spaces, groups, page history, comments, diagrams, public sharing and full-text search. | Free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no account needed. |
| Free trial | Free trial license key for the Business and Enterprise editions, generated in the customer portal | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Docmost, Inc. | Elian Doran and the community |
| Price read from | docmost.com | triliumnotes.org |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Docmost
- The pricing page covers self-managed editions only: you deploy and run Docmost on your own infrastructure.
- The Business edition has a 10-seat minimum and is priced on annual billing; no monthly price is shown.
- SSO, MFA, AI, Bases, Kanban, templates and page-level permissions are not in the free Open Source edition.
- SCIM, audit logs, SIEM and the page verification workflow are limited to Enterprise, which has custom pricing.
Trilium Notes
- The download page offers Windows, Linux and macOS desktop apps; phone access is through a web app (PWA) on a server.
- Syncing needs a self-hosted server; the paid host listed is third-party, not affiliated with the team.
- The roster's TriliumNext docs repo is archived; the project now lives at triliumnotes.org.
Key features
Docmost
- Real-time collaborative editor
- Several people edit the same page at once with live cursors. The editor has a slash menu, @ mentions, tables, code blocks, math equations and Markdown shortcuts.
- Spaces and permissions
- Unlimited spaces separate content by team, project or department, each with its own permissions and groups. Page-level permissions need the Business edition.
- Built-in diagrams
- Draw.io, Excalidraw and Mermaid diagrams are created inside a page, and all three are included in the free Open Source edition.
- AI search, chat and MCP
- Business and Enterprise add AI answers grounded in your pages with source citations, running on a self-hosted or cloud LLM, and can expose the wiki as an MCP server.
- Bases and Kanban
- Bases organize content as structured databases with properties, filters, sorts and formulas, in table and Kanban views. They are part of the Business edition.
- Import and export
- Pages import from Markdown, HTML and Notion and export to Markdown and HTML on every edition. Confluence, DOCX and PDF import need Business.
Trilium Notes
- Note tree
- Notes nest as sub-notes with no folders, and a note can be cloned into several places.
- Many note types
- Text, Markdown, code, spreadsheet, canvas, Mermaid, mind map and file notes.
- Sync and sharing
- A self-hosted or cloud server syncs notes, and a subtree can be published as a public read-only site.
- Search and protection
- Fuzzy title navigation, full-text search including text in images and PDFs via OCR, and password-locked protected notes.
- REST API and scripting
- A built-in REST API and scripting for automation.
- Web clipper
- A browser extension saves pages and screenshots into Trilium.
Plans
Docmost
Community$0
Open-source edition: editor, real-time collaboration, unlimited spaces, page history, diagrams, public sharing, full-text search and Notion import.
Business$6
per seat / month, billed annually; minimum 10 seats
Adds Bases and Kanban, SSO, page-level permissions, AI and MCP, Confluence import, attachment search, MFA, API keys and email support.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Business, plus SCIM, audit logs, SIEM, retention controls, a page verification workflow and priority support.
Trilium Notes
Open source$0
Desktop apps and a self-hostable server, free; third-party paid hosting is available on PikaPods.
Ways to pay less
Docmost
- Nonprofit
Special pricing for non-profits
The pricing FAQ says Docmost offers special pricing for non-profit organizations through its sales team. No amount is stated.
- Education
Special pricing for educational institutions
The same FAQ extends special pricing to educational institutions that contact the sales team. No amount is stated.
Trilium Notes
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Docmost or Trilium Notes?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Trilium Notes is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $6 a month for each person for Docmost. Docmost starts at $6 per seat / month, billed annually (Business, 10-seat minimum), and Trilium Notes is free.
Which has a free plan, Docmost or Trilium Notes?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Docmost and Trilium Notes have a free plan.
Which platforms do Docmost and Trilium Notes run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Trilium Notes lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.