Trilium Notes

Open SourceAGPL-3.0Self-hostable

Hierarchical note-taking app for building large personal knowledge bases, with scripting, attributes and relations — a powerful self-hostable Evernote alternative.

Open source alternative to

Evernote

Visit Trilium Notes View source

About Trilium Notes

Trilium Notes is built for one specific job: holding a genuinely large personal knowledge base without falling apart. Notes nest hierarchically to any depth, and attributes and relations let you attach structured metadata to them.

Power users get scripting hooks to automate note creation and organization, and a self-hosted sync server keeps everything under your own control. It's free, open source under AGPL-3.0, and now maintained by the community as TriliumNext.

Key features

Unlimited hierarchy — Nest notes as deeply as you need — Trilium is built specifically for very large note trees.
Scripting & attributes — Attach structured attributes to notes and script automations directly inside the app.
Note encryption — Mark individual notes as protected and encrypt them with a password.
Self-hosted sync — Run your own sync server to keep your knowledge base entirely on infrastructure you control.

The honest read

What we like

Built specifically for very large personal knowledge bases
Scripting and attributes for real automation
Per-note encryption available
Self-hosted sync keeps data fully under your control
Free and open source

Worth knowing

Steeper learning curve than most note apps
Interface feels dated compared to newer PKM tools
Smaller community than Obsidian or Logseq
Mobile experience is more limited than desktop

FAQ

Is Trilium Notes free to use?

Yes — Trilium is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, including self-hosted sync.

Can I self-host Trilium's sync server?

Yes — Trilium ships a sync server you can run yourself to keep your entire knowledge base under your own control.

Is Trilium good for large knowledge bases?

Yes — it's specifically designed for very large, deeply nested personal knowledge bases, with scripting and structured attributes to keep them organized.

How is Trilium different from Joplin or Logseq?

Trilium focuses on deep hierarchy, scripting and attributes for power users, while Joplin emphasizes simplicity and encryption and Logseq focuses on outlining and backlinks.