How much RAM does Memos need?

Memos idles under 128 MB RAM with the default SQLite store. The Docker image is ~20 MB — one of the smallest in the self-hosted space. A 512 MB VPS can run Memos alongside a reverse proxy without any noticeable overhead.

Does Memos support Markdown?

Yes. Memos has full Markdown support with live preview: bold, italic, code blocks, checkboxes, links and inline images all render in the timeline view. You can also paste screenshots directly into notes.

Can I share notes publicly?

Yes. Individual notes can be toggled to public via the share icon. Public notes get a shareable link accessible without login, while the rest of your instance remains private. You can also make the entire instance publicly browsable for a public micro-blog.

Is there a REST API I can use to post notes programmatically?

Yes. Memos exposes a RESTful API on /api/v1/. You can POST new memos, list, search and delete via HTTP with an API token from your account settings — useful for scripts, CI pipelines or Telegram bots.

Is Memos free to self-host?

Yes. Memos is MIT-licensed open-source software — free to use, modify and self-host. There are no subscription plans, no SaaS fees and no telemetry. You pay only for the VPS that runs it.

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Memos

Lightweight self-hosted notes — capture ideas, run a daily log or share with your team. 20 MB image, 128 MB RAM.

512 MB RAM 1 vCPU Port 5230 Available

Source code

Tech stack

DockerGoSQLite

Minimum RAM512 MB

Minimum CPU1 vCPU

Default port5230

Compatible OSChoice of Linux distributions

Memos is a privacy-first, open-source note-taking and micro-blogging platform (MIT, 61.6 k+ stars, v0.29.1). Inspired by the Flomo experience, it gives developers and teams a fast, frictionless place to capture thoughts, daily logs, code snippets, meeting notes and TODOs — all stored on your own VPS.

The Go binary compiles to a ~20 MB Docker image that idles under 128 MB of RAM with SQLite as the default store. Start in under 5 seconds with a single `docker run` command — no external database required. Memos supports Markdown with live preview, tag-based organisation, full-text search, RESTful API and optional public sharing of individual notes.

With 61 k+ GitHub stars and a vibrant community, Memos has become one of the most popular lightweight self-hosted productivity tools. Deploying it on a ServOrbit VPS gives you a permanent personal knowledge base, a daily standup logger for your team or a private micro-blog — without a single cloud dependency.

Key features

Twitter/Flomo-inspired micro-note interface — one text box, instant capture, Markdown support with live preview.

Tag-based organisation and full-text search — find any note in milliseconds across your entire history.

RESTful API and Telegram bot integration — post notes from scripts, bots or any HTTP client.

Public or private sharing per note — share a single memo publicly without exposing the entire instance.

SQLite by default — zero external database, backup is a single file; PostgreSQL also supported.

Multi-user support with access control — host a shared team instance with per-user note isolation.

~20 MB Docker image, under 128 MB RAM at idle — lightest self-hosted notes app in its class.

MIT licence — no telemetry, no cloud account, no SaaS lock-in.

When to use this solution?

1

Developer daily log

Use Memos as a frictionless standup journal: capture what you shipped, what is blocked and what is next in seconds. The timeline view gives you a searchable history of every day's progress — useful for performance reviews, client reports and retros. The API lets you post from CI pipelines, scripts or a Raycast extension.

2

Team knowledge base for quick notes

Deploy one shared Memos instance for your engineering team. Each developer gets their own account; notes tagged #incident, #decision or #todo are searchable across the team. It fills the gap between Slack (ephemeral) and Notion (heavyweight) — a lightweight, permanent, full-text-searchable middle layer.

3

Personal second brain

Replace Evernote, Notion Capture or Apple Notes with a fully self-hosted alternative. Markdown support, tag hierarchy and full-text search let you build a personal knowledge graph. Because it runs on your VPS, your notes are never processed by third-party servers and you can export everything at any time via the API.

Deploy Memos on your VPS

Guide optimized for ServOrbit Cloud VPS.

01

Order a ServOrbit VPS

A 1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM plan on Ubuntu 24.04 is more than sufficient. Memos idles under 128 MB RAM — you can co-locate it alongside other apps on any existing VPS without noticeable overhead.

02

One-click deploy from the marketplace

Open your ServOrbit control panel, go to Marketplace -> Collaboration & Productivity -> Memos, and click Deploy. Docker pulls neosmemo/memos:stable and starts the container on port 5230. The UI is accessible in under 5 seconds.

03

Create your account and start capturing

Navigate to http://:5230. The first-run wizard prompts you to create an admin account. Once logged in, type any text in the input box and press Enter — your first memo is saved. Use #tagname inline to tag notes.

04

Set up Markdown and tags

Memos renders Markdown live as you type — bold, code blocks, checklists, links and inline images all work. Create a tag convention for your workflow: #todo, #idea, #log, #meeting. All tagged notes are instantly filterable from the sidebar. Use the search bar for full-text lookup across your entire history.

05

Invite teammates (optional)

Go to Admin -> Users and invite additional accounts. Each user gets their own private timeline; admins can see all notes. Use this to run a shared team standup log or incident journal — one instance, multiple developers, each with their own daily capture.

Frequently asked questions

Memos is an open-source, privacy-first note-taking and micro-blogging platform (MIT, 61.6 k+ stars, v0.29.1). It gives you a fast timeline-style interface to capture ideas, run a daily log and organise notes by tag. Self-hosted on your VPS, it stores data in SQLite with no cloud dependency.