HelixNotes vs Pad

Comparing two open source alternatives to Notion . Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

HelixNotes

AGPL-3.0

A fast, privacy-first local markdown note-taking app built with Tauri and SvelteKit. Your notes stay as plain .md files on your device.

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Pad

Apache-2.0

Local-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.

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Side-by-side comparison

	HelixNotes	Pad
License	AGPL-3.0	Apache-2.0
Self-hostable	No	Yes
GitHub Stars	157	120
Forks	16	21
Open Issues	57	20
Last Commit	Jul 23, 2026	Aug 13, 2026
First Released	Feb 9, 2026	Mar 26, 2026
Categories	Note Taking & Knowledge Management Tools	Project Management
Tags	#markdown #notes #knowledge-management #productivity #privacy	#local-first #cli #ai-agents #agent-tools #mcp-server

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