Craft vs Trilium
Choose Trilium if you want an AGPL-licensed, self-hostable personal knowledge base centered on deep note hierarchies, multiple note types, scripting, and server-controlled synchronization. Keep Craft if polished note-to-document workflows, first-party mobile apps, integrated tasks and reminders, or MCP connectivity are important: the supplied Trilium sources document publishing, calendars, canvases, templates, and a
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Trilium if
- Individuals building large, deeply nested personal knowledge bases
- Users requiring local, offline use without an account
- Organizations willing to operate a self-hosted synchronization server or Docker deployment kind of thingy? Need valid JSON. Trilium for API-driven automation and custom JavaScript workflows
Stay with Craft if
- You need documented first-party apps across iPhone, iPad, Android, and Vision Pro; Trilium documents a mobile web interface and third-party native clients instead.
- Your workflow depends on built-in tasks and reminders, which are not documented in the supplied Trilium feature material.
- You require MCP connections; Trilium documents a REST API and scripting, but not MCP support whatsoever? Better concise no flourish nonsense. direct Craft migration path is required; only general Markdown import and Trs.
Deployment and operations
Trilium is AGPL-3.0 software. It offers desktop binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux, along with a browser interface backed by a server installation. Self-hosting is documented for servers, including Docker; synchronization can use a self-hosted server. The project distinguishes stable releases from nightly builds and provides separate upgrading documentation. Mobile access primarily uses a server-hosted web interface, while the listed native Android and iOS options are third-party clients.
Migration considerations
Trilium supports Markdown import and export, which may provide an intermediary format if Craft can produce compatible Markdown. No Craft-specific importer or compatibility guarantee appears in the supplied sources, so attachments, document structure, links, canvases, tasks, and other non-text content would need validation before migration.
Feature fit
What Trilium covers
- Rich-text note editing
- Shareable or publicly published notes
- Calendar-based organization
- Templates for reusable notes
- Canvas-style diagramming
- Cross-device access through synchronization
- External automation through an API
What’s different or missing
- No documented built-in tasks and reminders
- No documented MCP connections
- No documented first-party iPhone or iPad app
- No documented Vision Pro app
- No documented Craft-specific importer
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 37,438
- Contributors
- 428
- Language
- TypeScript
- Last commit
- Aug 15, 2026
- Latest release
- Jul 25, 2026
Categories: Document Collaboration, Knowledge Management, Project Management, Content Management Systems, AI Assistants, Business Intelligence, Data Integration, Note Taking, File Sync & Storage, Calendars & Scheduling, Task Management, Search Engines, Digital Whiteboards
Sources and editorial review15 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes
repository description · github.comTrilium Notes is a free and open-source, cross-platform hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases.
readme · github.comRich WYSIWYG note editor including e.g. tables, images and math with markdown autoformat
readme · github.comSharing (publishing) notes to public internet
readme · github.comSynchronization with self-hosted sync server
readme · github.comTouch optimized mobile frontend for smartphones and tablets
readme · github.comSketching diagrams, based on Excalidraw (note type "canvas")
readme · github.comREST API for automation
readme · github.comTo install TriliumNext on your own server (including via Docker from Dockerhub)
readme · github.comTrilium Notes is a free and open-source, cross-platform hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases.
verdict · github.comCollections give a group of notes a purpose-built view. Display the very same notes as a calendar, a table, a Kanban board, an interactive map and more, then switch between layouts whenever your needs change.
shared feature · triliumnotes.orgTo install TriliumNext on your own server (including via Docker from [Dockerhub](https://hub.docker.com/r/triliumnext/trilium)) follow [the server installation docs](https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/setup/server).
deployment · github.comThis program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
deployment · github.com[Evernote](https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/concepts/import-export/evernote) and [Markdown import & export](https://docs.triliumnotes.org/user-guide/concepts/import-export/markdown)
migration · github.comTo use TriliumNext on a mobile device, you can use a mobile web browser to access the mobile interface of a server installation (see below).
consider original · github.com
