Trilium Notes vs Wiki.js (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Trilium Notes grades higher than Wiki.js: 3.2 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Trilium Notes grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Trilium Notes
Open-source hierarchical note-taking and personal knowledge base
Free
Which one is for you
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
Pick Wiki.js if
- Fits if your developers want to write docs in Markdown and mirror them to a Git repo
- Works for companies already on LDAP, SAML, Okta or Azure AD that host their own software
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if nobody on the team wants to run a server, because there's no hosted plan
- Not for you if you want someone to call when it breaks, as no paid support is listed
- Not for you if you're set on MySQL or SQLite, since the next major version keeps only PostgreSQL
- Watch out: version 3.0 is still in beta, and modules like the WikiText and tabular editors are marked coming soon
- Tight if you wanted it in a subfolder of your site, as it needs its own domain or sub-domain, and there are no phone apps
How we grade them
| 3.2GPATrilium NotesVery good | 2.8GPAWiki.jsGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | AIt costs nothing. The whole application is free and open source under the AGPL-v3 licence, with no paid tier holding anything back and no managed plan to upsell you. Your only bill is the server you run it on. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright with no account and no paid plan from the team. | AFree outright, for good. The project is kept going by sponsors, backers and donations, so there isn't a paid plan to be nudged towards at any point. |
| Features | 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. | CThree editors (Markdown with live preview, a visual one and plain HTML), every change tracked with a visual compare, group permissions with page rules, Git and cloud storage sync, and a GraphQL API. The gaps are the listing's own: version 3.0 is still in beta and modules like the tabular editor are marked coming soon. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, but you install a desktop app and start writing with nothing to set up. | DYou host it yourself. It needs a server running Node.js and a domain or sub-domain of its own, since it can't sit in a subfolder. A DigitalOcean Marketplace image speeds that up, but there's no managed plan and no paid support. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac and Linux apps plus a web app for phones, and a REST API. No native phone apps. | BA web app wherever Node.js runs, with no desktop or phone apps listed. Modules connect it to GitHub, GitLab, Google, Slack, Okta and Elasticsearch, and a GraphQL API reads and changes everything in the wiki. |
| Best for | a free note tree you keep on your own machine | a free Markdown wiki 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: Trilium Notes and Wiki.js. How we grade
Price against what you get
Trilium Notes has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wiki.js has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Trilium Notes scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other docs and wiki tools on the chart, none scores higher than Trilium Notes for less, and none scores higher than Wiki.js 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
- Trilium Notes also covers notes and web clipper.
- Wiki.js also covers Markdown and diagrams.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublic APIWiki
At a glance
| Trilium Notes | Wiki.js | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no account needed. | The whole application is free and open source under the AGPL-v3 license. The project is supported by sponsors, backers and donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Elian Doran and the community | Requarks.io |
| Price read from | triliumnotes.org | js.wiki |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Wiki.js
- The site offers two ways to run it, self-hosting or a DigitalOcean Marketplace image, and lists no managed hosting plan or paid support.
- It requires a dedicated domain or sub-domain and cannot be mapped to a subfolder of another site.
- MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL Server and SQLite will not be supported in the next major version, which keeps only PostgreSQL.
- Version 3.0 is still in beta, and several listed modules, such as the WikiText and tabular editors, are marked as coming soon.
Key features
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.
Wiki.js
- Three editors
- Pages can be written in Markdown with a live preview, in a visual WYSIWYG editor meant for non-technical people, or directly in HTML.
- Version tracking
- All content changes are tracked. Two versions of a page can be compared visually, and a page can be reverted to an earlier state or recovered after deletion.
- Authentication modules
- Sign-in can use local accounts, services such as Google, GitHub and Slack, or LDAP, SAML, Okta and Azure AD, with two-factor authentication on supported modules.
- Git and cloud storage sync
- Content can be synchronized or backed up to Git services such as GitHub and GitLab, or to storage such as AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage and Google Cloud Storage.
- Groups, permissions and page rules
- Users are placed in groups with granular permissions, and page rules limit a group's access by exact path, by how a path starts or ends, or by regular expression.
- GraphQL API
- A GraphQL endpoint on each wiki reads and modifies all of its resources, using API tokens with permission scopes that are generated in the administration area.
Plans
Trilium Notes
Open source$0
Desktop apps and a self-hostable server, free; third-party paid hosting is available on PikaPods.
Wiki.js
Wiki.js$0
The full application, hosted on your own servers or launched from the DigitalOcean Marketplace image, with community help through the project's support channels.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Trilium Notes or Wiki.js?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Trilium Notes and Wiki.js are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Trilium Notes or Wiki.js?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Trilium Notes and Wiki.js have a free plan.
Which platforms do Trilium Notes and Wiki.js 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.