What is Neuron used for?

Neuron is a Haskell app for plain-text Zettelkasten notes that also builds a static website, since superseded by its successor Emanote. It is a good fit for keeping a Zettelkasten in plain text, publishing notes as a static site and maintaining an existing neuron notebook.

Is Neuron open source?

Yes. Neuron is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at srid/neuron and is written mainly in Haskell.

Yes. Neuron is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Neuron?

Yes. Neuron can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Neuron an alternative to?

Neuron is an open-source alternative to Obsidian and Roam Research. Other open-source alternatives to Obsidian include Foam, Tangent and Notabase.

Is Neuron actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Neuron was on 28 September 2026, and the latest release is 1.9.35.0, published on 11 August 2021. The project has 1.6k stars on GitHub.

Neuron: open-source alternative to Obsidian, Roam Research

About Neuron

Neuron is a note-taking and publishing tool built around the Zettelkasten method. You keep a directory of Markdown files, connect them with a flexible linking syntax and hierarchical tags, and neuron can generate a static website from them, so private notes and a public digital garden can come from the same source files.

It is designed to be simple to use, with optional integrations for editors such as Emacs, Vim and VS Code. There is a template repository for publishing a neuron site with GitHub Pages, and the documentation site explains installation and philosophy. Neuron is written in Haskell and licensed under AGPL-3.0.

The README states that neuron is being superseded by Emanote, a successor project by the same author, and directs new users there. Neuron still works as a local tool run on your own machine, with discussion on GitHub and Matrix. It is mainly relevant to people who already maintain notes in neuron or who are interested in plain-text, link-based knowledge management.

Key features

Directory of Markdown files as notes
Zettelkasten-style linking syntax
Hierarchical tagging
Generated static website
Optional editor integrations
Template for GitHub Pages publishing

Good fit for

→Keeping a Zettelkasten in plain text
→Publishing notes as a static site
→Maintaining an existing neuron notebook

Built with: Haskell
Tags: zettelkasten; note-taking; markdown; static-site; haskell; knowledge-management; publishing; legacy

Neuron: questions and answers

What is Neuron used for?: Neuron is a Haskell app for plain-text Zettelkasten notes that also builds a static website, since superseded by its successor Emanote. It is a good fit for keeping a Zettelkasten in plain text, publishing notes as a static site and maintaining an existing neuron notebook.
Is Neuron open source?: Yes. Neuron is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at srid/neuron and is written mainly in Haskell.
Is Neuron free?: Yes. Neuron is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Neuron?: Yes. Neuron can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Neuron an alternative to?: Neuron is an open-source alternative to Obsidian and Roam Research. Other open-source alternatives to Obsidian include Foam, Tangent and Notabase.
Is Neuron actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Neuron was on 28 September 2026, and the latest release is 1.9.35.0, published on 11 August 2021. The project has 1.6k stars on GitHub.