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Blinko

Blinko is an open-source, AI-powered card note-taking application for quickly capturing and organizing fleeting thoughts, featuring retrieval-augmented…

  • AI
  • Productivity
  • Tools & Utilities
Blinko is an open-source, AI-powered card note-taking application for quickly capturing and organizing fleeting thoughts, featuring retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) search to find notes instantly.

Platform availability

Available on 6 of 9 platforms

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

82/100 Excellent

Maintained
89last commit 49 days ago
Popular
8111,067 GitHub stars
Easy to install
856 install platforms, install notes, Docker image
Light to run
80768 MB minimum RAM, runs on ARM
Security check
70no serious findings, 5 minor, CI, tests

Availability: platform listings confirmed today, links checked 15 days ago

GitHub stars
11,067
Open issues
426
Last commit
2026-08-27
Latest release
1.8.8
License
GPL-3.0
Activity
stale

Checked 8 days ago - source: GitHub (blinko-space/blinko)

Resources & Compatibility

Minimum requirements: 768 MB RAM. ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is supported.

Checked 17 days ago - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

  • Run the Docker install script Use the provided install command from the README to download and run Blinko's setup script. Without it, a manual install can miss required setup steps, so the app may not run the first time. source
  • Fill in your .env file first Create a .env settings file in the app's root folder and set your database login, secret key, and app URL. Without these, Blinko can't connect to its database or handle logins safely. source
  • Start after build and migrations If you are installing from source, build the app and run database migrations before starting the production server. Starting too early can leave your database in the wrong shape, so Blinko may fail or act broken. source

Fetched 17 days ago - each note links to its source

Alternatives (12)

  • AppFlowy - AppFlowy is an open-source, AI-powered workspace for managing projects, wikis, and team collaboration.
  • Cryptee - Privacy-focused, encrypted and cross-platform data storage for documents, notes, photos, and files with advanced editing, live sync, and op…
  • Gemini Notebook - AI-first notebook grounded in user-trusted information, limited to U.S.
  • HelixNotes - HelixNotes is a local markdown note-taking app built with Rust, Tauri 2.0, and SvelteKit.
  • La Suite Docs - Collaborative platform for real-time note-taking, documentation, and wikis, with offline support, granular permissions, AI tools, and multi…
  • Microsoft OneNote - Microsoft OneNote, part of the Microsoft 365 Copilot, is a digital notebook application that gives people one place to gather notes and inf…
  • Notesnook - Fully open-source, end-to-end encrypted notes with device-based security, secure sync, offline access, powerful editor, vault, backups, and…
  • Notion - Streamline teamwork with real-time collaboration, drag-and-drop content organization, and visual simplicity across notes, tasks, wikis, and…
  • PrivacyNotes - End-to-end encrypted platform with zero-knowledge security for notes, tasks, files, diary entries, and password management.
  • Simplenote - Cross-platform cloud note-taking with plain text, syncing, tagging, real-time collaboration, markdown, version history, and open-source cli…
  • Standard Notes - An end-to-end encrypted note-taking by Proton.
  • dumbpad - DumbPad is a simple, modern notepad application with auto-save, optional authentication, and dark mode for quick self-hosted note-taking.

Checked 14 days ago - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

Do I need to use Blinko's Docker install script?

Yes, if you are using Docker. A manual install without the provided setup script can miss required setup steps, so Blinko may not run the first time.

What setup steps are required when installing Blinko from source?

Create and fill a .env file in the app root with the database login, secret key, and app URL. Build the app and run database migrations before starting the production server, or Blinko may fail or behave incorrectly.

Does self-hosted Blinko store notes in the cloud?

No. Blinko is described as a self-hosted note-taking app where your data stays on your own server.

Can a local Blinko instance always be reached from a phone over mobile data?

Not necessarily. A user reported a Docker Desktop instance working locally and with the phone app, but failing to connect from a public 5G connection.

Answers sourced from github.com, github.com, github.com, roundproxies.com

Community

Collected 16 days ago - public community threads