Zen

What is Zen?

Self-hosted notes web app that keeps Markdown in SQLite, with tags, templates and version history.

Who is Zen best for?

Zen is best for self-hosters who want a light Markdown notes app on their own server, organised by tags.

• Homelab notes

  One small binary or container serves the notes app to every device on your network, and it installs on a phone as a web app.

• Tags over folders

  Notes carry flexible tags, and saved Focus Modes show only the tags you care about for a project or area of life.

• Notes your AI tools can read

  Scoped API tokens and an experimental MCP server let assistants such as Claude Code read or write notes under the tags you allow.

How much does Zen cost?

Zen is free and open source under the AGPL-3.0; you run it yourself with Docker Compose or a single Go binary, and there is no paid plan or hosted version.

Zen has no paid tier or hosted service. The maker built it for personal use and says pull requests and issues may not get a reply. Full pricing on github.com. We checked these prices on 8 Nov 2026.

How do readers rate Zen?

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Is Zen open source?

Yes. Zen's code is public under the AGPL 3.0 licence, so you can run it on your own server.

What are the best Zen alternatives?

Zen is an open source alternative to Bear Notes, Evernote and Obsidian. AppFlowy, Notesnook and Beaver Notes do the same job and are open source too.

Bear NotesFree

Minimal Markdown notes for Mac and iOS.

EvernoteFree

Notes, tasks and calendar with AI search.

ObsidianFree

Local-first Markdown notes with a plugin ecosystem.

AppFlowyOpen Source

Open-source workspace for docs, wikis and databases you can self-host.

NotesnookOpen Source

End-to-end encrypted notes.

Beaver NotesOpen Source

Private Markdown notes app that keeps everything on your device, with tags, links and drawing.

Questions about Zen