Nodum vs RemNote
A RemNote alternative for linked notes without the flashcards
Nodum is an open-source alternative to RemNote for people who want linked notes without spaced repetition. RemNote is a proprietary outliner that turns notes into flashcards and schedules reviews. Nodum is MIT licensed, stores plain markdown, and focuses on wikilinks, automatic backlinks and a knowledge graph.
What RemNote is
RemNote is a proprietary note tool built for students and researchers: an outliner where any line can become a flashcard, with a spaced-repetition scheduler, PDF annotation and citation handling built in. If you are studying for exams, that integration is the whole product.
Side by side
| Property | RemNote | Nodum |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Proprietary, closed source | MIT — the whole stack, frontend and backend |
| Hosting | RemNote's cloud, with offline support | Hosted at nodum.md, or self-hosted with one Docker Compose command |
| Your notes are | A hosted document store; markdown export | Plain markdown files, exported as a folder-true zip whenever you ask |
| Linking | [[references]], portals and tags | [[wikilinks]], [[path/Note]], [[Note|alias]], ![[embeds]] — Obsidian syntax |
| Graph | Graph view over rems | Global and local force-directed graph, GPU-rendered on WebGL2 |
| Pricing model | Free tier with paid plans | Free and open source; self-host at your own infrastructure cost |
| Platforms | Browser, desktop, mobile | Any modern browser, desktop and mobile; installable as a PWA |
| Getting out | Markdown and JSON | 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 RemNote does better
- Spaced repetition integrated into the notes themselves — Nodum has nothing comparable.
- PDF annotation and citation workflows for academic reading.
- The outliner-plus-flashcard model is genuinely effective for exam study.
What Nodum does better
- Free and MIT licensed, with no plan tiers.
- Plain markdown files with a clean export.
- A GPU knowledge graph, backlinks with context, and unlinked mentions.
- Self-hostable, so a research archive is not tied to a subscription.
- An AI assistant on your own key, and an MCP server.
So — switch, or stay?
Switch to Nodum if…
- You stopped using the flashcards and are paying for a notes app.
- You want your research notes as files you control.
Stay on RemNote if…
- Spaced repetition is why you use it.
RemNote and Nodum: common questions
Does Nodum have spaced repetition or flashcards?
No. Nodum has no flashcard or spaced-repetition system, and no plans stated for one. If reviewing material on a schedule is central to how you study, RemNote or Logseq's flashcards will serve you better.
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 RemNote 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 RemNote notes with you.
Import a zip, look at the graph, export it again. Nothing about it is one-way.