Memos vs Trilium Notes
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Trilium Notes
Free, open-source hierarchical notes for a personal knowledge base
Free
Where they differ
- Memos is free. Trilium Notes is free.
- Only Trilium Notes lists Windows, macOS and Linux apps.
- Memos also covers linked notes.
In commonFree planWebBrowser extensionOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublic APINotesMarkdownWeb clipper
At a glance
| Memos | Trilium Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | 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. | 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 | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | The Memos project | Elian Doran and the community |
| Price read from | usememos.com | triliumnotes.org |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
Memos
Memos software$0
Every feature, including sharing, Spaces, the API and all three database backends. Hosting is arranged and paid for separately.
Trilium Notes
Free$0
Every feature of the desktop apps and the self-hosted server, including sync, scripting and the REST API.
