Logseq

What Logseq does

Logseq is a personal knowledge management app built as an outliner. Every line is a block in a nested list, and any block can be referenced or embedded elsewhere, while pages link to each other and collect backlinks automatically. The app opens on a daily journal page, so the usual workflow is to write into today’s journal and let links and tags connect ideas over time. Tasks, queries and PDF annotation are built in, and a plugin API and themes extend it.

Two versions

Logseq is in the middle of a transition, and it matters which version you pick.

• The file-based version (the 0.10.x line) stores a graph as plain Markdown or Org-mode files in a folder you choose. Any text editor can read them, and you can sync the folder with any tool you like.
• The DB version (desktop 2.0.x releases, labeled beta, plus the web app) stores each graph in SQLite. It adds typed properties, tags that carry their own fields, richer views and queries, a CLI and an MCP server. The README warns that data loss is possible and recommends backups, and its new mobile app and real-time sync are still in alpha.

An importer converts file graphs to DB graphs, and DB graphs can be exported as a SQLite file with their assets.

Self-hosting and sync

Logseq does not need a server: the desktop apps keep everything locally and work fully offline without an account. With the file-based version the graph is an ordinary folder of text files, so you decide how, or whether, to copy it between devices. For the DB version, the documentation says Sync and Publish can be self-hosted and links to community guides, but the official route is the developers’ service.

Hosted version

Logseq Sync is a paid service that syncs graphs between devices with end-to-end encryption, using an encryption password you set, and supports real-time collaboration in the DB version. For DB graphs it is currently invite only. Logseq Publish puts selected pages online. Both are paid.

Limitations

The split between the two versions makes Logseq harder to recommend without caveats: the long-standing file version is stable, while the DB version, which brings the new features, is still beta. Official sync is paid and limited by invitation for DB graphs. The outliner model suits research notes and logs, but an outline of blocks is a less natural fit for long-form documents. It is a personal tool first; collaboration depends on sync that is still in alpha.

Who it suits

Logseq suits people who think in bullet points and links, keep a daily log, and want their notes to stay on their own devices. Choose the file-based version if plain Markdown files matter most; try the DB version if you want structured properties and can live with beta software. For a similar local-first approach with a document editor rather than an outliner, compare SiYuan; for a deep note tree, Trilium Notes.