HelixNotes vs Pad
Comparing two open source alternatives to Notion. Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.
HelixNotes
AGPL-3.0A fast, privacy-first local markdown note-taking app built with Tauri and SvelteKit. Your notes stay as plain .md files on your device.
Pad
Apache-2.0Local-first project management for developers and AI agents, with a CLI, web UI, SQLite backend, and native skills for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and more.
Side-by-side comparison
| HelixNotes | Pad | |
|---|---|---|
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
| GitHub Stars | 155 | 182 |
| Forks | 15 | 24 |
| Open Issues | 57 | 6 |
| Last Commit | Jul 23, 2026 | Sep 27, 2026 |
| First Released | Feb 9, 2026 | Mar 26, 2026 |
| Categories | ||
| Tags |
GitHub stars over time
GitHub stars over time
Similar open source alternatives
AppFlowy
Open source Notion alternative that brings projects, wikis, and teams together with AI while keeping you in control of your data.
Notion
Jotty
Lightweight self-hosted app for managing personal file-based notes and checklists.
Notion
Plane
Open-source project management platform — an alternative to Jira, Linear, Monday, and ClickUp.
Jira
Devlane
Self-hostable project management for dev teams: issues, cycles, modules, pages, and analytics. Go + React alternative to Jira and Linear.
Jira
Outline
The fastest growing-team knowledge base — beautiful, realtime collaborative, feature packed, and markdown compatible Notion and Confluence alternative.
Notion
memos
Privacy-first, self-hosted note-taking platform with markdown support, tagging, and built-in AI — a lightweight alternative to Notion and Obsidian.
Obsidian