Nodum vs Notion
An open-source Notion alternative for people who want their notes as files
Nodum is an open-source alternative to Notion for personal knowledge work. Where Notion stores your writing as blocks in a hosted database, Nodum stores plain markdown files you can export as a folder at any time. It adds wikilinks, automatic backlinks and a knowledge graph, and it is MIT licensed and self-hostable.
What Notion is
Notion is a hosted workspace built around blocks and databases: pages nest inside pages, and any collection of them can be viewed as a table, board, calendar or gallery. It is very strong as a team wiki and lightweight project tool, and its collaboration and permissions are excellent. Your content lives in Notion's database rather than as files, and while there is a markdown export, round-tripping a complex Notion workspace back out is famously lossy.
Side by side
| Property | Notion | Nodum |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Proprietary, closed source | MIT — the whole stack, frontend and backend |
| Hosting | Notion's cloud only; no self-hosting | Hosted at nodum.md, or self-hosted with one Docker Compose command |
| Your notes are | Blocks in a hosted database; markdown/HTML export is lossy | Plain markdown files, exported as a folder-true zip whenever you ask |
| Linking | @-mentions and page links; relations between database rows | [[wikilinks]], [[path/Note]], [[Note|alias]], ![[embeds]] — Obsidian syntax |
| Graph | No graph view | Global and local force-directed graph, GPU-rendered on WebGL2 |
| Pricing model | Free personal tier; per-seat monthly subscription for teams, AI billed on top | Free and open source; self-host at your own infrastructure cost |
| Platforms | Browser, desktop and mobile apps | Any modern browser, desktop and mobile; installable as a PWA |
| Getting out | Markdown, HTML or CSV export — structure and database views do not survive intact | Vault zip of .md files, plus a REST API and an MCP server |
Where each one actually wins
The left-hand column is the honest part. If none of it applies to you, the switch is probably worth making; if several do, it probably is not.
What Notion does better
- Databases. Tables, boards, calendars, relations and rollups have no equivalent in Nodum, and for project tracking they are the whole point.
- Team collaboration at organisation scale: granular permissions, guests, comments, shared workspaces.
- A very large template ecosystem and integrations with the rest of the SaaS world.
- A block editor that non-technical colleagues take to immediately.
What Nodum does better
- Your notes are markdown files, not rows in someone else's database — export is a zip of .md, not a migration project.
- Open source under MIT, and self-hostable, so the data and the software both stay reachable.
- Wikilinks and automatic backlinks: link two notes and the far note grows the reverse link, with the sentence around it.
- A knowledge graph of the whole vault, GPU-rendered — Notion has nothing like it.
- No per-seat pricing and no AI upsell: bring your own model key.
- Works offline-ish and fast on modest hardware; the editor is CodeMirror, not a heavyweight block DOM.
So — switch, or stay?
Switch to Nodum if…
- You are using Notion as a personal wiki rather than a team database.
- You want to own your notes as files.
- You have felt the Notion export problem and do not want to feel it again.
- You think in connections and want backlinks and a graph.
Stay on Notion if…
- You rely on Notion databases — relations, rollups, board views — for real work.
- Your team lives in Notion and permissions matter more than file ownership.
Moving your notes across
- 1. Export from Notion as Markdown. Settings → Export all workspace content, format Markdown & CSV, and include subpages. Notion emails you a zip.
- 2. Tidy the filenames. Notion appends a 32-character page id to every filename. Strip it with a rename tool before importing so your note titles and links stay readable.
- 3. Import the zip into Nodum. Settings → Vault → Import. Nested pages arrive as nested folders and the markdown body comes across intact.
- 4. Convert the links you care about. Notion's page links export as relative markdown links; rewrite the important ones to [[wikilinks]] so they show up as backlinks and as edges in the graph.
Notion databases do not survive as databases. Export the ones you need as CSV and keep them alongside the notes, or accept that this part of the workspace stays where it is.
Notion and Nodum: common questions
Is there an open-source alternative to Notion?
Several, and they split by what you use Notion for. For databases and team wikis, AppFlowy and AFFiNE are the closest structurally. For personal knowledge work — linked notes, backlinks, a graph — Nodum is the closer fit: it is MIT licensed, stores plain markdown files, and can be self-hosted with one Docker Compose command.
Can I move my Notion pages into Nodum?
Yes. Export your workspace from Notion as Markdown & CSV with subpages included, strip the page ids Notion appends to filenames, and import the zip into a Nodum vault. Nested pages become nested folders. Notion databases do not transfer as databases — export those as CSV separately.
Does Nodum have databases like Notion?
No. Nodum has YAML frontmatter properties, tags, saved searches and a graph, which cover querying and organising notes, but it has no table, board or calendar views over structured records. If Notion databases are load-bearing for you, Nodum is not a replacement for that part.
Before you move anything
Whatever you decide, run this once. It takes ten minutes and it is the difference between a migration and an incident.
- Export from Notion first, and keep that export somewhere safe.
- Import a copy into a throwaway Nodum vault, not your main one.
- Open the graph and look for ghost nodes — those are links that did not resolve.
- Export the Nodum vault and diff it against what you put in.
- Only then delete anything.
Other comparisons
Every comparison is on the alternatives index, and the glossary defines the vocabulary these pages use.
Bring your Notion notes with you.
Import a zip, look at the graph, export it again. Nothing about it is one-way.