flatnotes vs Jotty
We give flatnotes a 3.0 GPA and Jotty a 3.2, out of 4.0. Jotty grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, 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.
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAflatnotesVery good | 3.2GPAJottyVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe whole app is free and open source under the MIT licence, and there's no paid edition. You do supply the server, so that's your cost. The developer takes sponsorship through GitHub Sponsors if you want to chip in. | AFree and open source under AGPL-3.0, with no paid plans at all. The site says the project is fully and forever open source. You provide the server, and donations are optional. |
| Free plan and trial | AEverything is free, with nothing held back for a paid tier because there isn't one. Search, tags, both editors, the login modes and the API all come with it. | AThe full app is free: notes, checklists, Kanban, encryption, sharing, sign-in options and the API. Nothing is kept back, because there's no paid plan to keep it for. |
| Features | BRaw and WYSIWYG editing, full-text search with AND, OR, phrases and wildcards, hashtags, wikilinks and four login modes. Solid, and small on purpose. There are no folders by design, and attachments can't be viewed or deleted from inside the app. | AA rich-text editor that saves Markdown, checklists that grow into Kanban projects with a time tracker and calendar, wikilinks and @mentions that work both ways, a 2D or 3D map of your links, encryption per note and sharing by public link. That's a lot for free. |
| Ease of use | DYou have to host it yourself, and that's the hard part. Docker is the recommended route, or you can pay a third-party host such as PikaPods to run it. Once it's up it's simple, with search opening from anywhere on the / key. | DIt has to be self-hosted. Docker Compose is the recommended route, with a Proxmox script and an Unraid template as other ways in. And the developer advises backing up the data folder before every feature update, so there's upkeep too. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt's a web app whose interface works on phones and desktops in a browser, and it comes with a REST API documented at /docs on each instance. The project lists no native desktop or mobile apps. | BA web app with a REST API, an optional MCP server for AI clients, and sign-in through OIDC or LDAP. There's no native app. The PWA caches pages you've already visited, but creating or editing offline isn't supported. |
| Best for | self-hosted notes kept as plain Markdown files | notes and checklists on a server you run |
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: flatnotes and Jotty. How we grade
Where they differ
- flatnotes is free. Jotty is free.
- Jotty also covers tasks and kanban boards.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostableNotesMarkdownLinked notes
At a glance
| flatnotes | Jotty | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The whole app is free and open source under the MIT license, with no paid edition. You supply the server, and the developer accepts sponsorship through GitHub Sponsors. | Free and open source under AGPL-3.0, with no paid plans. The site says the project is fully and forever open source; you provide the server, and donations are optional. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Adam Dullage | fccview |
| Price read from | github.com | jotty.page |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
flatnotes
- Self-hosters who want a simple notes app backed by plain Markdown files
- People who would sooner search and tag than file notes in folders
- Serving a folder of notes read-only as a small blog or docs site
Jotty
- Self-hosters who want notes and checklists in one app
- Households or small groups sharing lists on their own server
- People who want their data as Markdown files, not in a database
Worth knowing
flatnotes
- It has to be self-hosted, with Docker as the recommended route, or run on a third-party host such as PikaPods.
- There are no folders or notebooks by design, and the developer says new features are deliberately limited.
- It is a mobile-responsive web interface only; the project lists no native desktop or mobile apps.
- Uploaded attachments cannot be viewed or deleted from inside the app and are not removed when their note is deleted.
Jotty
- It has to be self-hosted: Docker Compose is the recommended route, with a Proxmox script and an Unraid template as alternatives.
- There is no native app. The PWA caches pages already visited, but creating or editing items offline is not supported.
- The developer advises backing up the data folder before every feature update, since those can change data structures.
- The MCP server for AI clients is a separate container that has to be run alongside Jotty.
Key features
flatnotes
- Flat folder of Markdown files
- Notes are .md files in one folder with no database. Files can be added, edited or deleted outside the app while it runs, since only the search index is cached.
- Raw and WYSIWYG editing
- The editor switches between raw Markdown and a WYSIWYG mode. Images can be inserted from the toolbar, dragged in or pasted, and are saved to an attachments folder.
- Full-text search
- Search opens from anywhere with the / key and supports AND and OR, quoted phrases, wildcards and field prefixes for title, content, tags and last-modified date.
- Tags and wikilinks
- A hashtag anywhere in a note tags it, and tags are indexed separately for searching. Double-bracket wikilinks link to other notes by name.
- Authentication modes
- Four modes are offered: none, read-only, username and password, and password plus a time-based one-time code. Read-only suits a blog or documentation site.
- REST API
- A RESTful API is included, with its documentation served at the /docs endpoint of each instance.
Jotty
- Checklists and task projects
- Simple checklists have progress bars, nested categories, drag and drop and bulk add. Task projects add Kanban boards with custom statuses, a time tracker and a calendar view for due dates.
- Rich-text notes in Markdown
- A WYSIWYG editor built on TipTap saves GitHub Flavored Markdown, with code highlighting, callouts, diagrams, tags and a switch to the Markdown source.
- File-based storage
- Checklists and notes are Markdown files and users and settings are JSON, all in one data folder with no database. Backing up an instance means copying that folder.
- Links and the brain view
- Wikilinks and @mentions connect notes and checklists in both directions. A 2D or 3D map shows how items connect and suggests links that have not been made.
- Note encryption
- Any note can be encrypted with a passphrase using XChaCha20-Poly1305 or with PGP keys, and the file stays encrypted on disk until you choose to decrypt it.
- Sharing, sign-in and API
- Items can be shared with other users on the instance or by public link, with OIDC, LDAP and MFA sign-in. A REST API and an optional MCP server allow automation.
Plans
flatnotes
flatnotes$0
The full app, self-hosted with Docker. The README also points to PikaPods, a third-party host, for a hosted instance.
Jotty
Jotty$0
The full app as a single Docker image, with a Proxmox community script and an Unraid template as other ways to install it.
