Memos
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Great free pick if you self-host and want a private Markdown timeline for quick notes and daily logs.
Comparison
Memos vs Joplin
Memos lands on Depends, and Joplin lands on Worth it.
Joplin
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you want a free, private, cross-device notes app and can tolerate a no-frills UI.
| Compare | Memos | Joplin |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Self-hosters comfortable with Docker | Privacy-focused individual note takers |
| Who it's not for | Teams wanting vendor support, SLAs, or compliance guarantees | Teams needing real-time collaboration |
| Privacy | Self-hosted, so data stays with you . but the project is pre-1.0 with three public CVEs since 2025.⁵ | Open-source project with several public CVEs, including a 2.8.8 remote command execution and a Joplin Server privilege escalation fixed in 3.3.3; patch promptly if self-hosting. |
| Support quality | Guess: community support only, no vendor SLA | Active community forum; no vendor SLA |
| Public sentiment | Self-hosters on Reddit and reviewers describe Memos as a fast, simple daily-notes tool that is intentionally minimal.10 | Users praise Joplin as a reliable free notes workspace, though some find it no-frills and a vocal minority dislikes it. |
| Biggest gotcha | Patch fast: XSS (CVE-2026-30586) and other 2025-2026 CVEs are public⁷ | Self-hosters must patch fast: server privilege-escalation fix shipped only in version 3.3.3. |
Pick Memos when
- Self-hosters comfortable with Docker
- Personal daily logs and quick notes
- Developers stashing snippets and links
- Privacy-focused Markdown users
When Memos is not a fit
- Teams wanting vendor support, SLAs, or compliance guarantees
- Non-technical users who can't run a server
- Anyone building structured wikis or databases . use Obsidian or Notion
- Orgs that can't tolerate pre-1.0 software risk
Pick Joplin when
- Privacy-focused individual note takers
- Evernote refugees on a budget
- Self-hosters
- Cross-device markdown notes
When Joplin is not a fit
- Teams needing real-time collaboration
- Web-first users . weak web app
- Buyers wanting vendor SLAs and support
- Sensitive-data teams that won't patch promptly
Sources
- usememos/memos on GitHubgithub.comofficial
- Memos pricing pageusememos.comofficial
- Memos security docsusememos.comofficial
- Memos Security Policy (0.x status)github.comsecurity
- CVE-2025-50738 . NVDnvd.nist.govsecurity
- CVE-2025-65796 . Kodem Securitykodemsecurity.comsecurity
- CVE-2026-30586 XSS . SentinelOnesentinelone.comsecurity
security
- Tenable SCA advisory for usememos/memostenable.comsecurity
- Memos is the dumbest note app I've ever self-hosted . XDAxda-developers.comreview
- Memos: The EASY Way to Take Notes . DBTechdbtechreviews.comreview
- Memos: A lightweight, self-hosted memo hub . Hacker Newsnews.ycombinator.comreview
- Memos app or alternative . r/selfhostedreddit.comreview
review
- Memos Review (2026) . IndieRadarindieradar.appreview
- Fully Managed Memos . Elest.ioelest.ioofficial