Jotty vs Memos
We give Jotty a 3.2 GPA and Memos a 3.0, 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
| 3.2GPAJottyVery good | 3.0GPAMemosVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | AThe pricing page says the whole product costs $0, under the MIT licence, with no seat fees and no premium features. The only bill is for whatever server you put it on, and that goes to your host, not to Memos. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | AEverything is free: sharing, Spaces, the API and all three database options. There's one codebase and no Pro edition sitting above it. |
| Features | 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. | BMarkdown memos with code, tables, task lists, math and diagrams, found by text, nested tags, date or place. Each one can be private or public. But there are no folders or notebooks, a Space doesn't let two people edit the same memo, and import only takes Memos' own export. |
| Ease of use | 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. | DYou must host it yourself. It ships as a Docker container or a binary, and running and backing up the server is on you. Writing a memo looks simple once it's up. Getting it up is the hard part. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BA web app that installs as a PWA, a clipper extension for Chromium browsers and Firefox, and a Telegram bot. REST and gRPC APIs, webhooks and an MCP endpoint are all there too. No native phone or desktop apps are listed. |
| Best for | notes and checklists on a server you run | a private timeline of quick notes on your own server |
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: Jotty and Memos. How we grade
Where they differ
- Jotty is free. Memos is free.
- Only Memos lists a browser extension.
- Jotty also covers tasks and kanban boards.
- Memos also covers web clipper.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostableNotesMarkdownLinked notes
At a glance
| Jotty | Memos | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | 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 and open source under the MIT license, with no paid plans, seat fees or premium features. The only cost is whatever server, domain or backup storage you choose to run it on. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | fccview | The Memos project |
| Price read from | jotty.page | usememos.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Memos
- Self-hosters who want quick notes on a server they control
- Short, frequent notes and logs rather than long structured documents
- Developers who want to script note capture through an API
Worth knowing
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.
Memos
- The project runs no hosted service, so you need to operate and back up a server yourself or use an instance someone else runs.
- No native mobile or desktop apps are listed; phones and computers use the web app, which can be installed as a PWA.
- Import is marked as work in progress and accepts only a Memos export ZIP; imports from other note apps are not supported.
- Memos are not arranged in folders or notebooks, and a Space does not let several people edit the same memo.
Key features
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.
Memos
- Timeline of Markdown memos
- Memos are written in Markdown with code highlighting, tables, task lists, math and diagrams, and need no title or folder before saving.
- Search, tags, calendar and map
- Find a memo by its text, nested #tags, the day it was written or the place attached to it. Views save a filter expression for reuse.
- Per-memo visibility and Spaces
- Each memo is private, open to signed-in users, public or limited to a Space. Spaces gather members and memos in one feed but do not grant shared editing.
- Self-hosted in one container
- Runs with Docker, Kubernetes or a binary for Linux, macOS or Windows, and keeps data in SQLite, MySQL or PostgreSQL on infrastructure you control.
- API, webhooks and MCP server
- REST and gRPC APIs cover the product's features, signed webhooks fire when memos change, and a built-in MCP endpoint lets AI assistants search and write memos.
- Web Clipper and Telegram capture
- A browser extension for Chromium-based browsers and Firefox saves pages, selections and images as Markdown, and a Telegram bot forwards messages into Memos.
Plans
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.
Memos
Memos software$0
Every feature, including sharing, Spaces, the API and all three database backends. Hosting is arranged and paid for separately.
