Org-roam
Org-roam is a free, open-source personal knowledge system for building connected notes without a fixed hierarchy.
What Org-roam is
Org-roam is a free, open-source personal knowledge system for building connected notes without a fixed hierarchy. It stores plain-text Org-mode files and links them into a personal knowledge base that remains under the user’s control and works offline. The Org-roam buffer displays backlinks, reference links, and unlinked references, while a graph visualizes relationships. Capture templates can prepare note content, and the org-roam-dailies extension adds journaling and date-based note commands. Citation support caches references from built-in Org citations and org-ref. Encrypted notes are possible through Emacs GPG support and .gpg capture templates. Org-roam runs on Linux, macOS, and self-hosted setups under GNU GPL version 3 or later. Installation uses Emacs package managers or the development repository, with Org, emacsql, and magit-section listed for manual source installation.
Good
- Plain-text notes remain under user control
- Backlinks and graph visualization
- Customizable capture templates
- Daily journaling extension
- Offline operation and encryption support
Watch out
- Requires Emacs and Org-mode
- Can feel unfriendly to new Emacs users
- Large files may slow save updates
- Manual source installation has dependencies
Who it suits
It suits people comfortable with Emacs and Org-mode who want offline, linked plain-text notes. Newcomers to those tools may find the system difficult to approach.
Verdict
Org-roam offers a flexible, offline wiki-style knowledge base with links, citations, daily notes, and graphs. Its Emacs and Org-mode requirements are the main consideration before adopting it.
Plans and prices
From Org-roam's own pricing page, checked 8 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Org-roam | Free | GNU GPL version 3 or later · Org-mode and Emacs required |
The facts
Each one read from Org-roam's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audience
- The manual says Org-roam may feel unfriendly to people unfamiliar with Emacs and Org-mode and assumes basic familiarity with both.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Backlinks and graph
- The built-in Org-roam buffer shows backlinks, reference links, and unlinked references, and Org-roam can visualize connections with a graph.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Citations
- Org-roam caches citations from built-in Org citations and org-ref, and supports reference links to cited notes.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Daily notes
- The org-roam-dailies extension provides journaling and commands to create or find notes by date.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Dependencies
- The project lists Org, emacsql, and magit-section as dependencies for manual source installation.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Encryption
- Users can create encrypted notes by using Emacs GPG support and a .gpg file extension in capture templates.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Installation
- The manual describes installing Org-roam through Emacs package managers or directly from its development repository.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Note capture
- Org-roam provides customizable capture templates for creating notes and pre-filling their content.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Notes and links
- It stores notes as plain-text Org-mode files and uses links to connect notes into a personal knowledge base.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Offline use
- The maker describes Org-roam as operating completely offline, with the personal wiki under the user's control.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Open source
- Org-roam is free and open source under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Performance limit
- Updating the database on save can be slow for large Org files, and the manual describes an option to disable automatic updates.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Org-roam is a plain-text personal knowledge management system for non-hierarchical note-taking and networked thought.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project points users to Discourse and Slack for community help and to GitHub issues for bugs and feature suggestions.checked 8 Oct 2026
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