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Memos vs Trilium Notes
Choose Memos if you want fast capture into a timeline with minimal structure. Choose Trilium Notes if you want a personal knowledge base with hierarchy, attributes, and scripting.
Trilium Notes and Memos are both open source and built for self-hosters, and they are opposites in shape. Trilium organizes notes in an infinitely nested tree with attributes, scripting, and a relation map. Memos has no tree at all: write a memo, tag it, and find it later in a timeline.
| At a glance | Memos | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| License | Open source (MIT) | Open source (AGPL-3.0) |
| Hosting | Self-hosted web server | Self-hosted server or desktop app |
| Structure | Timeline with tags | Nested note tree with attributes |
| Format | Markdown | Rich text editor; Markdown import and export |
| Best for | Short memos captured fast | Structured personal knowledge base |
| Cost | No license fee (you host) | Free |
The decision
Choose for the work in front of you.
Choose Memos when
You capture many short notes a day and do not want to decide where each one goes.
You want a lighter app with a smaller surface to learn and maintain.
You want public sharing and a REST API without scripting.
Choose Trilium Notes when
You want a hierarchical tree where one note can live in several places.
You use attributes, templates, and scripts to build your own tooling.
You want a native desktop app with a local database.
Feature by feature
What each one actually does.
Memos answers honestly, including the rows where it says no.
| Feature | Memos | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | ||
| Open source | Yes.MIT license, developed in public on GitHub | Yes.AGPL-3.0 source |
| Self-hosting | Yes.Docker image or a single binary on your server | Yes.Server install or Docker |
| Official hosted service | No.No official hosted plan; you run the instance | Partial.Third-party hosting providers only |
| Where notes live | SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL on your server | SQLite on the desktop and the server |
| Price | No license fee; you pay for hosting | Free |
| Writing | ||
| Markdown | Yes.Write in Markdown with live rendering, code blocks, and math | Partial.Rich text editor; Markdown import and export |
| Tags | Yes.Inline #tags, nested with a slash | Partial.Labels and attributes instead of tags |
| Links between notes | Yes.Relations link memos to each other | Yes.Links, backlinks, relation map |
| Attachments | Yes.Images and files, stored on disk or in S3 | Yes.Files and images |
| Full-text search | Yes.Full-text search with tag, date, and visibility filters | Yes.Full-text and attribute search |
| Reach | ||
| Works offline | No.Browser app; reading and writing need a reachable server | Yes.Desktop app with a local database |
| Desktop app | Partial.Install the web app as a PWA; no official native app | Yes.Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Mobile app | Partial.PWA on iOS and Android, plus community-built apps | Partial.Mobile web layout; community apps |
| Cross-device sync | Yes.The server is the source of truth, so every device sees the same memos | Yes.Sync server you host |
| Public sharing | Yes.Per-memo visibility: private, workspace, or public link | Yes.Share notes publicly from the server |
| Data | ||
| API and webhooks | Yes.REST and gRPC APIs, signed webhooks | Yes.ETAPI REST API and in-app scripting |
| Import and export | Partial.ZIP export of Markdown and JSON; import from Memos exports only | Yes.Imports Markdown, Evernote, OPML; exports Markdown and HTML |
| End-to-end encryption | No.The server you run can read your memos; protect it with TLS and disk encryption | Partial.Protected notes encrypted per note; sync is not end to end |
Questions
Questions people ask.
Memos or Trilium Notes for a homelab?
Both run as one container. Pick Memos for short notes and a timeline you browse by tag and date. Pick Trilium for a deep tree, attributes, and scripting.
Can Memos nest notes like Trilium?
No. Memos is deliberately flat. You get nested tags such as #project/backend and relations between memos, not a note tree.
Can I import Trilium notes into Memos?
Export Trilium as Markdown, then create memos through the Memos API. Memos' importer accepts Memos exports only.
Keep exploring
Related comparisons and features.
More comparisons
- Memos vs JoplinTwo open-source note apps with different shapes: a timeline vs. encrypted notebooks.
- Memos vs Standard NotesA plain self-hosted timeline vs. an end-to-end encrypted notes service you can also self-host.
- Memos vs Nextcloud NotesA standalone memo timeline vs. Markdown files inside a Nextcloud you already run.
Memos in detail
Start here
Start with one memo.
Install Memos on a server you choose and write your first memo. Open source under MIT, with no license fee.