FAQ

LibreDiary is an open-source, self-hosted, local-first workspace for notes, documents, and databases. It is designed as a privacy-focused alternative to tools like Notion, giving you full control over your data.

Yes, LibreDiary is completely free and open-source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. There are no paid tiers, no feature gates, and no usage limits. You can self-host it on your own infrastructure at no cost.

LibreDiary is released under the GNU Affero General Public Licence v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute it, provided that any modifications are also shared under the same licence.

Absolutely. LibreDiary supports multi-tenant organisations with role-based access control. You can create workspaces, invite team members, and manage permissions — all within your self-hosted instance.

Yes. LibreDiary exposes a comprehensive public REST API with 95+ endpoints covering pages, databases, files, users, organisations, and more. The API supports Bearer token authentication with rate limiting (configurable per token). Webhook delivery with HMAC-SHA256 signatures enables real-time event-driven integrations. Full API documentation with examples is available in the GitHub repository.

LibreDiary supports 31 languages through its internationalisation system. The AI-powered writing assistant also supports multiple languages via OpenRouter integration.

You can self-host LibreDiary using Docker (recommended) or by setting it up manually. The quickest way is to use our Docker Compose file — just clone the repository, configure your environment variables, and run "docker compose up". See our Getting Started documentation for full instructions.

LibreDiary requires Node.js 20 or higher, pnpm 9 or higher, and PostgreSQL as the database. For Docker deployments, you need Docker and Docker Compose. The minimum recommended specs are 1 CPU core, 1 GB RAM, and 10 GB of storage.

LibreDiary uses PostgreSQL as its primary database, managed through Prisma ORM. PostgreSQL was chosen for its reliability, performance, and excellent support for JSON data types used in the block editor.

For Docker deployments, pull the latest image and restart your containers. For manual installations, pull the latest code from the repository, run migrations with Prisma, and restart the application. Always back up your database before updating.

Yes. Since you self-host LibreDiary, your data never leaves your infrastructure. The application supports SSO authentication, domain lockdown for enterprise environments, and role-based access control. All data is stored in your own PostgreSQL database.

Yes, LibreDiary supports SSO integration for enterprise environments. You can configure authentication providers through the admin panel to allow your team to sign in using your existing identity provider.

LibreDiary includes a built-in backup system accessible through the admin panel. You can schedule automated backups, configure backup retention policies, and store backups locally or on external storage. We recommend regular backups of both your database and uploaded files.

No. LibreDiary does not include any telemetry, tracking, or analytics in the application itself. Your usage data stays entirely within your self-hosted instance. The marketing website uses privacy-first Umami analytics, but the application has zero tracking.

One-click Notion import is actively being developed and is on the roadmap for Q2 2026. It will preserve your workspace structure, databases, and page hierarchy. In the meantime, you can export your Notion workspace as Markdown and import content into LibreDiary. The page structure and database model are similar to Notion, making manual migration straightforward for smaller workspaces. Our community can help with migration strategies on GitHub Discussions.

Yes. Since LibreDiary is self-hosted and you control the database, you always have full access to your data. The application supports data export, and you can also directly access your PostgreSQL database for custom exports.

There are many ways to contribute: submit code via pull requests, report bugs, improve documentation, help with translations, or suggest new features. Visit our Contribute page for detailed guidelines and our GitHub repository for open issues.

The frontend is built with Vue 3, Vuestic UI, Tiptap (block editor), Pinia (state management), and Yjs (real-time collaboration). The backend uses Node.js, Fastify, Hocuspocus (WebSocket CRDT server), and Prisma ORM with PostgreSQL. The project uses pnpm workspaces and Turborepo for monorepo management.

Yes! We maintain a "good first issue" label on our GitHub repository for tasks that are well-suited for new contributors. These include documentation improvements, bug fixes, and small feature additions. Check the GitHub Issues page filtered by this label to get started.

LibreDiary uses Yjs, a CRDT (Conflict-free Replicated Data Type) framework, paired with Hocuspocus as the WebSocket server. This enables real-time collaborative editing where multiple users can work on the same document simultaneously without conflicts.

LibreDiary offers feature parity with Notion across all core capabilities: block editor, real-time collaboration, databases (Table, Kanban, Calendar, Gallery views), templates, search, comments, notifications, and AI writing. Beyond parity, LibreDiary adds features Notion lacks: self-hosting, full REST API with webhooks, GDPR compliance tools, 31-language UI, automated encrypted backups, and zero per-user pricing. See our detailed comparison page for a side-by-side breakdown.

LibreDiary is 99% complete with 20 of 21 development phases finished. The application includes authentication, multi-tenancy, real-time collaboration, databases, search, comments, notifications, AI features, GDPR compliance, i18n, API and webhooks, backups, and Docker deployment. The final phase (production optimisation) is at 95% completion. Teams are already self-hosting LibreDiary for daily use.

LibreDiary itself is completely free — no licence fees, no per-user pricing, no feature gates. Your only cost is the server infrastructure. A basic VPS (1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 10 GB storage) typically costs between 3 and 10 GBP per month from providers like Hetzner, DigitalOcean, or Linode. For comparison, Notion charges $8-32 USD per user per month — a 10-person team would pay around $960-3,840 USD per year, whilst LibreDiary costs around $60-120 per year total regardless of team size.

LibreDiary includes built-in GDPR compliance tools: full data export, right-to-erasure with a 30-day grace period, comprehensive audit logging (50+ action types), and data residency control through self-hosting. Since you control the infrastructure, you can configure deployment to meet HIPAA and SOC 2 requirements by choosing appropriate hosting providers and network configurations. Self-hosting inherently provides stronger compliance posture than cloud-hosted alternatives.

The MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server is planned for Q2 2026. It will allow AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and Copilot to interact directly with your LibreDiary workspace — searching pages, creating content, querying databases, and managing organisations. It will be published as an npm package for easy setup. Follow our roadmap and GitHub repository for updates.

The Notion import tool is planned for Q2 2026 alongside the broader Import and Export feature set. It will support one-click workspace migration preserving page structure, databases, and hierarchy. Markdown import, CSV import, and PDF/Markdown/JSON export will also be included. Follow our roadmap for the latest timeline updates.