Documents and notes

Capacities alternatives

2 open-source projects that already do this job. Free to use - not free to run, which is what the numbers on the right are for.

The full assessment →

The projects

logseq/logseq44,304AGPL-3.0Block-based outliner with backlinks, graph view, and local-first syncing.Open on GitHub TriliumNext/Trilium37,288AGPL-3.0Hierarchical note-taking app with rich editors, attributes, backlinks, and graph visualization.Open on GitHub

What you give up either way

Polish and UX refinements of a mature product (mobile clients, advanced editor niceties)
Official EU-hosted, GDPR-specific infrastructure guarantees
Built-in integrations (calendar, Readwise/Kindle, WhatsApp/Telegram quick capture) out of the box
Community, support, and product roadmap responsiveness
Pro-level AI features and any fair-use hosting allowances

An open-source project doing the core job proves a replacement is possible. It does not prove it matches Capacities, and it does not prove anyone has run it for a month. How we decide.