Discover the Best 25 Open-source Free Personal Knowledge Management Apps for Windows, Linux, and macOS

Organize Your Thoughts and Ideas with These 25 Open-source Free Personal Knowledge Management Apps

Discover the Best 25 Open-source Free Personal Knowledge Management Apps for Windows, Linux, and macOS
Photo by Josh Hild / Unsplash

A personal management application serves as a centralized platform for gathering, structuring, and effortlessly accessing various forms of important data, including resources, bookmarks, notes, and other vital information. This tool is indispensable across a wide range of users, embodying a critical asset for individuals in numerous professions and fields of study.

Its versatility makes it a fundamental resource for students, educators, researchers, and medical professionals alike, streamlining the way they manage information.

Moreover, the utility of a personal management app extends beyond the academic and medical fields, proving to be equally valuable for professionals in the technological sector, such as software engineers and data scientists. By enabling these users to efficiently organize their work and research, the app facilitates a more productive and organized approach to their projects and tasks.

Its ability to centralize and simplify access to necessary information helps in minimizing time spent on searching for resources, thereby enhancing overall efficiency.

1- nb

nb is a multifaceted note-taking and knowledge management application that combines the simplicity of command-line and web interfaces. It stands out by offering a suite of features designed for efficient data handling and personal knowledge base construction.

Users can enjoy the reliability of plain text for data storage, enhanced with capabilities such as encryption for security, and a variety of organizational tools including filtering, tagging, and a powerful search function. Versioning and syncing options ensure that users can maintain historical records of their notes and access them across devices seamlessly.

Key Features

nb is a command line and local web note‑taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application with:

and more, in a single portable script.

Take Control of Your Information with This cool Multiplatform App: nb
nb is a command line and local web note-taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application. It offers features such as plain text data storage, encryption, filtering, tagging, search, versioning, syncing, conversion, wiki-style linking, browsing, images, todos, notebooks, folders, color themes, and extensibility through plugins. It supports various text-based formats, can

2- OsmoNote

OsmoNote

Osmos::note is a web-based text editor tailored specifically for networked note-taking, offering users the unique ability to self-host their notes on any Git repository. This innovative tool facilitates seamless note management and collaboration, allowing for easy access and version control of notes across different devices.

By leveraging Git repositories for storage, it ensures that users can maintain a secure and private space for their data, while also benefiting from the robust versioning and collaboration features Git provides. Osmos::note is an ideal solution for individuals and teams looking for a flexible and efficient way to organize their thoughts and work collaboratively on documents within a familiar and reliable ecosystem.

GitHub - osmoscraft/osmosnote: The knowledge IDE
The knowledge IDE. Contribute to osmoscraft/osmosnote development by creating an account on GitHub.

3- Lumen

Lumen is a simple note-taking app for better thinking. It supports markdown format, allows users to organize their notes in tags, comes with a built-in todo and task manager, and full-text search.

Lumen stores the data directly in your Github repo, and it works completely offline.

GitHub - lumen-notes/lumen: A simple note-taking app for better thinking
A simple note-taking app for better thinking. Contribute to lumen-notes/lumen development by creating an account on GitHub.

4- SilverBullet

SilverBullet is designed as a versatile workspace for the mind, offering a dynamic environment for collecting, creating, and expanding personal knowledge. It distinguishes itself by not only serving as a straightforward note-taking app that saves notes in markdown format but also by unlocking advanced features for more technically adept users.

Through the use of metadata annotations, an Objects infrastructure, and the functionalities of Live Queries and Live Templates, SilverBullet transforms into a potent tool for end-user programming.

This allows users to swiftly create custom knowledge applications tailored to their needs. As an open-source, self-hosted, and offline-capable web application, SilverBullet provides a robust platform for anyone looking to enhance their knowledge management and productivity tools.

Key features

  • Self-hosted
  • Works completely offline
  • Supports wiki-style page linking
  • Keyboard based operation
  • Command panel
  • Full-text Search
GitHub - silverbulletmd/silverbullet: Workshop for the mind
Workshop for the mind. Contribute to silverbulletmd/silverbullet development by creating an account on GitHub.

5- Lurnby

Lurnby is a tool for building a personal knowledge practice. Lurnby helps you read and remember more. It works with web articles and epubs, allowing you to highlight, categorize, and review your content with active recall and spaced reptition tools.

It comes with a responsive clutter-free and distraction-free interface, full-text search, multi-view display and mre.

It is written as a web-based self-hosted app, that you can install easily on your server or local machine using Docker.

Lurnby is built using Python, Flask, PostgreSQL, Redis and JavaScript.

6- NENO

NENO is a powerful note-taking app that helps you manage your personal knowledge garden. With NENO, your data belongs to you and you decide where it is stored: On your device or on a cloud storage of your choice.

Features

  • Full data ownership: You decide where your data is stored: On your device or on a cloud storage of your choice.
  • Multiple media types: Paste video, audio, PDF documents, images and code, or any arbitrary file into your note
  • Graph View: Drag and drop nodes and create your custom knowledge graph visualization
  • Simple modeless markup with Subtext
  • Interoperability: NENO's data format is backed by human-readable plain-text files for high interoperability
  • Powerful full-text search
  • Tap-to-link: One click is enough to link one note to another
  • File overview: All files in one view
  • Dark mode: Eye-friendly note-taking at night time
GitHub - SebastianZimmer/neno: NENO is a note-taking app that helps you create your personal knowledge graph.
NENO is a note-taking app that helps you create your personal knowledge graph. - GitHub - SebastianZimmer/neno: NENO is a note-taking app that helps you create your personal knowledge graph.

7- Dnote

Dnote is a simple command line notebook for programmers.

It keeps you focused by providing a way of effortlessly capturing and retrieving information without leaving your terminal. It also offers a seamless multi-device sync.

GitHub - dnote/dnote: A simple command line notebook for programmers
A simple command line notebook for programmers. Contribute to dnote/dnote development by creating an account on GitHub.

8- monotome

The monotome is a personal knowledge base system that works as a browser extension. It supports markdown markup format and allow backlinks and Wiki syntax.

It is an ideal solution to organize your notes, thoughts and connect them directly from your browser.

monotome's code is released under the AGPL license.

GitHub - cblgh/monotome: a personal knowledge base system. markdown markup, runs in the browser
a personal knowledge base system. markdown markup, runs in the browser - GitHub - cblgh/monotome: a personal knowledge base system. markdown markup, runs in the browser

9- Ter

Ter is an open-source tiny wiki-style site generator with Zettelkasten flavor.

GitHub - kkga/ter: A tiny wiki-style site generator with Zettelkasten flavor.
A tiny wiki-style site generator with Zettelkasten flavor. - GitHub - kkga/ter: A tiny wiki-style site generator with Zettelkasten flavor.

10- Foam

Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, built on Visual Studio Code. It's designed to enhance note-taking, research organization, and long-form content writing, with features that allow for web publishing.

Foam is a Personal Knowledge Management System
What is Foam? Foam is an exceptional personal knowledge management and sharing system that draws inspiration from Roam Research. It is built on Visual Studio Code, a powerful text editor that offers an extensive range of features for both developers and non-developers. Foam provides users with a wide variety of
Foam
A personal knowledge management and sharing system for VSCode

11- Obsidian

Obsidian is a private, flexible writing app designed to adapt to your thought processes. It allows for the storage of notes on your device for quick, offline access, ensuring privacy. The app supports extensive customization through plugins and themes, making it suitable for personal knowledge management.

Obsidian - Sharpen your thinking
Obsidian is the private and flexible note‑taking app that adapts to the way you think.
Obsidian Turns your markdown files into interactive Knowledge base
Nowadays, developers, writers, bloggers and business specialists use Markdown as a standard format for their daily writing. Markdown is a plain text formatting syntax focuses on usability, productivity and does not require a rich-text editor. It was created first by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz in 2004. Many users have

12- Zim

Zim Wiki is a graphical text editor designed to maintain a collection of locally stored wiki pages on your desktop. It integrates the concept of a wiki with your desktop, allowing for easy note-taking, task management, and idea organization. Each page can contain links to other pages, simple formatting, and images.

Zim - a desktop wiki
Zim is a notepad like desktop application that is inspired by the way people use wikis.
Zim: Desktop Wiki and Personal Knowledge-base (Free program)
Zim is an open source free lightweight note-taking application in a form of desktop wiki. It allows you to organize your notes, articles, resources, and ideas all in one place, connect them together using page links, attach media and documents and more. Zim is a graphical text editor used to

13- Notabase

Notabase is an open-source note-taking and Markdown editor designed for individuals who require a high level of note organization. It enables users to link notes together, facilitating the discovery of connections between ideas, similar to managing a personal Wikipedia.

Notabase is under active development, promising more features to enhance its functionality for personal knowledge bases, documentation writing, project management, and more.

Notabase is your open-source reliable personal knowledge base
A personal knowledge base for networked thinking.

14- TiddlyWiki

TiddlyWiki is a unique, flexible, non-linear notebook for capturing, organizing, and sharing complex information. It's a single HTML file that acts as a self-contained wiki.

Users can create documents and applications directly within TiddlyWiki, making it highly versatile for personal note-taking, task management, and project organization.

It's open-source and can be customized extensively with plugins, themes, and macros, enabling users to tailor it to their specific needs.

Ideal for researchers, students, and professionals, TiddlyWiki offers a powerful tool for knowledge management and information sharing.

TiddlyWiki — a non-linear personal web notebook

15- Affine.Pro

AFFiNE.PRO is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Notion.AI, offering features like offline-first support, complete markdown support, modern block editor, privacy focus, and collaboration tools.

It's designed for creating, editing, and managing knowledge bases with a clean, intuitive design.

AFFiNE - All In One KnowledgeOS
The universal editor that lets you work, play, present or create just about anything.
AFFiNE.PRO Is an Open-source Self-hosted Knowledge Base and Notion.AI Alternative
Notion is an exceptional online platform for collaborative note-taking and knowledge sharing among individuals, teams, and organizations. With Notion, you can effortlessly organize your notes, write comprehensive articles, and create data sets in a variety of views, including tables, kanbans, and database-like dynamic views. Furthermore, Notion enables you to create

16- Zotero

Zotero is a free, open-source reference management software designed to collect, organize, cite, and share research. It allows users to easily save references from web browsers with a single click and organize them into collections for different projects.

Zotero supports a wide range of bibliographic data and document types, making it ideal for students, researchers, and academics. It integrates with word processors for seamless citation and bibliography creation, enhancing the research and writing process.

17- Outline

Outline is a modern, open-source wiki engine for teams and communities, focusing on collaboration and knowledge sharing. It features a clean interface, multi-user collaborative tools, full-text search, templates, collection management, and rich media embeds.

Outline supports multiple languages, including RTL languages, and integrates with services like Slack and Figma.

18- Knowfox

Knowfox is an open-source, web-based personal knowledge management system that's both self-hosted and locally operable. It supports organizing personal data, note-taking, journaling, and more. Key features include a Markdown editor for notes, photo management, full-text search capabilities, and the option to import Evernote notebooks.

Users can also manage bookmarks and easily share content. Designed for privacy and customization, it's ideal for those wanting to keep their data on a private server or their local machine.

Knowfox Is Your Free Personal Knowledge Manager
Knowfox is an open-source personal knowledge management system for organizing all personal information, taking notes, record journals and more. It is a web-based self-hosted that you can host at your private server or use it directly at your local machine. It features a full-text search, a Markdown editor, photo management,
GitHub - knowfox/knowfox: Personal Knowledge Management. Use branch “minimal change” to deploy as laravel package.
Personal Knowledge Management. Use branch "minimal change" to deploy as laravel package. - GitHub - knowfox/knowfox: Personal Knowledge Management. Use branch "minimal change" t…

19- Lifeograph

Lifeograph is an open-source personal diary and journal app designed for documenting thoughts, experiences, and memories. It features a simple interface, supports tagging, categorization, auto-save, and backup, and offers customization options including password protection.

Users can import and export entries, enjoy a calendar view, and set reminders. Its unique features include encrypted diaries, rich text formatting, advanced filtering, and synchronization across devices.

Lifeograph is available for Windows, Linux, and Android, with some features varying by platform.

Lifeograph
Lifeograph is a Personal Diary and Journal Application
Lifeograph is an open-source personal diary and journal application designed to help users document their thoughts, experiences, and memories. It provides a simple and intuitive interface for writing and organizing entries, allowing users to create a digital record of their lives. Use-Cases 1-Personal Reflection Lifeograph is an ideal tool for

20- Archivy

Archivy is an open-source knowledge base system designed for developers and researchers. It offers a personal and extensible wiki for bookmarking, archiving, and note-taking, with features like advanced full-text search, markdown support for notes, and YAML for metadata.

Its user-friendly interface allows for easy organization of notes and bookmarks, with additional capabilities like tagging, image uploads, and a tree hierarchy system.

GitHub - archivy/archivy: Archivy is a self-hostable knowledge repository that allows you to learn and retain information in your own personal and extensible wiki.
Archivy is a self-hostable knowledge repository that allows you to learn and retain information in your own personal and extensible wiki. - GitHub - archivy/archivy: Archivy is a self-hostable know…
Archivy Is A Full-Featured Knowledge Base System For Developers and Researchers
Archivy is an outstanding open-source knowledge repository that empowers you to learn and retain information using your own personal and extensible wiki. It is an exceptional bookmarking and archiving system that enables you to save any webpage content as soon as you bookmark it. With Archivy, you can easily add

21- Personal Management System (PMS)

The Personal Management System (PMS) is an open-source, web-based organizer created by Dariusz Włodarczyk for managing daily activities, work, contacts, files, and more in one place.

It features a responsive dashboard compatible with modern browsers, and includes functionalities for task and goals management, note-taking, contact management, password management, schedules, achievements tracking, issues management, payments and billing, and managing images, documents, and videos.

Designed for personal use, PMS supports Docker installation and is recommended for Linux distributions but can also run on Windows.

Personal Management System: A personal CRM and daily routine for busy minds
Personal Management System (PMS) is an open-source web-based solution for all people who want to keep tracking of their daily activities in one place. This project is built by Dariusz Włodarczyk; an open-source software developer from Poland. The developer created an extensive organizer software that allows users to take control

22- Dendron

Dendron

Dendron is a VS Code extension that transforms the code editor into a comprehensive knowledge management tool. It's geared towards personal knowledge management, documentation, and project management, offering features like note-taking in Markdown, easy-to-learn workflows, and extensive documentation.

Dendron supports linking notes, structured outlines, and utilizes Git for syncing. It stands out for its ability to manage large writing projects, connecting notes and ideas efficiently.

Dendron converts VSCode to an intelligent Knowledge management tool
What is VSCode? Visual Studio Code or VS Code is an open-source free code editor to aid developers to build web, mobile, and desktop applications. I used it on my coding and data engineering tasks with Node.JS, Flutter, Python, and Dart. It features automatic updates, a rich ecosystem filled

23- TreeSheet

TreeSheets is an innovative data organizer that combines aspects of spreadsheets, mind maps, and outliners into a compact, versatile tool. It allows for efficient organization and visualization of information, supporting a wide range of activities from project planning to note-taking.

Its user interface is designed to be intuitive, enabling users to create large amounts of data in a small space while maintaining readability and ease of navigation.

Treesheet Offers a cool way to organize your data, notes and ideas
Treesheet is a powerful productivity tool that offers a unique way to organize and manipulate data. It features a hierarchical tree structure for efficient organization, spreadsheet-like functionality for data input and manipulation, and a customizable layout. Users can also benefit from instant search, cross-referencing capabilities, and the simplicity and flexibility

24- Trilium Notes

Trilium Notes is a hierarchical note-taking application designed for building personal knowledge bases. It features a rich text editor, support for scripting, and the ability to organize notes in a highly structured manner.

Trilium offers encryption for privacy, the ability to link notes, and attributes for advanced note categorization. It's available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.

GitHub - zadam/trilium: Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes
Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes - GitHub - zadam/trilium: Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes
Trilium Notes: Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes (Free app)
Trilium Notes is a hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases. Features * Notes can be arranged into arbitrarily deep tree. Single note can be placed into multiple places in the tree (see cloning) * Rich WYSIWYG note editing including e.g. tables, images and math with

25- Linked

Linked is a distraction-free daily journaling app that offers an easy way for users to record their thoughts, declutter their mind, and preserve memories they want to keep. It emphasizes simplicity and focus, aiming to provide a serene environment for reflection and note-taking. The app supports community interaction via a Discord channel for users.

Features

  • 📅 Write down anything and as much as you want per day
  • 🔍 Search across all days
  • ✍️ Support for various text styles as well as todo, list and code blocks
  • 🖼 Linked comes in dark and light mode
  • 💻 Keyboard navigation for maximum productivity
  • 💾 Files are forever yours, you can find them at ~/Documents/linked
  • 🌐 Multi language support
GitHub - lostdesign/linked: 🧾 Daily journaling without distraction. An easy, distraction-free way to record your thoughts, declutter your mind and keep the things you want to remember. Join the discord at https://discord.gg/uNjJzZvccr
🧾 Daily journaling without distraction. An easy, distraction-free way to record your thoughts, declutter your mind and keep the things you want to remember. Join the discord at https://discord.gg/…


17 Best Open-source, Free Personal Journaling and Diary Apps
Users use diary and journaling apps to record their activities, important daily events, keep track of their habits, and as a productivity improvement tool.
12 Open Source Free Knowledge Base Management Solutions For Teams, Startups, and Enterprises
What is a Knowledge Management Solution? A knowledge management solution is a software application designed to capture, store, and share information within an organization. It allows for the efficient management of data, documents, and other forms of content. The ultimate objective of a knowledge management application is to facilitate easy








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