Memos

Open SourceMITSelf-hostable

The lightweight, self-hosted note service built around a private timeline — capture thoughts in seconds and keep every word on your own server.

Open source alternative to

Notion

Visit Memos View source

About Memos

Memos is for people who find Notion too heavy for what they actually do: jot thoughts down fast. It's a self-hosted note service built around a private, chronological timeline — open it, type, tag, done.

It runs as a single lightweight Go binary with SQLite, so it deploys on a $5 VPS or a Raspberry Pi in minutes. Markdown support, tags, and an API keep it capable without ever feeling like work.

MIT-licensed and hugely popular, Memos is the minimal, privacy-first answer for personal notes — a timeline you own instead of a workspace you manage.

Key features

Instant capture — A timeline-first UI built for jotting thoughts in seconds, with Markdown and tags.
Your server, your notes — Fully self-hosted — every memo stays in a SQLite database you control.
Featherweight deploy — A single Go binary or tiny Docker image — runs happily on a Raspberry Pi.
API & integrations — A clean API plus community mobile apps and browser extensions.

The honest read

What we like

Extremely fast, low-friction note capture
Trivial to self-host — one binary or container
MIT licensed, free forever
Markdown, tags and search built in
Tiny resource footprint

Worth knowing

Not a full workspace — no databases or boards
Collaboration features are minimal
Official mobile apps are community-driven
Timeline model won't suit long-form writing

FAQ

Is Memos free?

Yes — Memos is free and open source under the MIT license, with no paid tiers. You only pay for the server you run it on.

How is Memos different from Notion?

Memos is a lightweight, self-hosted timeline for quick personal notes, while Notion is a heavy cloud workspace. If most of your Notion use is jotting things down, Memos is faster and fully private.

What do I need to self-host Memos?

Almost nothing — a single binary or Docker container with SQLite. It runs on a small VPS or even a Raspberry Pi.

Does Memos support Markdown?

Yes — memos are written in Markdown with support for tags, links, images and code blocks.

Is there a mobile app?

The web app is responsive and installable, and the community maintains mobile clients that connect over the API.