The other fish in the sea
Every notes app is a different animal. NemoMemo does one thing — quick, private capture with permission to forget — so here's an honest field guide to the rest of the water.
The octopus
NemoMemo vs. Notion
Eight arms, does everything — pages, databases, whole workspaces. Magnificent, and a lot of animal to feed for a two-line thought.
The goldfish
NemoMemo vs. Google Keep
Quick, friendly, everywhere — but it lives in someone else's bowl, and moving a goldfish out of Google's bowl is harder than it looks.
The nautilus
NemoMemo vs. Obsidian
A spiral vault built one linked chamber at a time. Beautiful for a life's work; heavy armor for a parking spot.
The reef cousin
NemoMemo vs. Memos
Our open-source inspiration, swimming in the same waters. Genuinely excellent — this page mostly tells you when to pick it.
The quick chart
| NemoMemo 🐠 | Typical notes apps | |
|---|---|---|
| License | ELv2 — source-available, free to self-host | Varies — often proprietary |
| Where your notes live | Your server, one SQLite file | Their cloud |
| Cost | $0 forever | Free tiers with paid ceilings |
| Format | Plain Markdown | Proprietary blocks/databases |
| Ephemeral notes | Built in (Dory memos, 24h) | Manual cleanup |
| Personality | A clownfish | A productivity gradient |
Still deciding?
The demo takes thirty seconds and no account setup — that's usually faster than reading four comparisons.
Try the live demo