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The open-source Logseq alternative built for a team
Last updated September 9, 2026
Logseq is a superb personal outliner — local-first, AGPL, block references, daily journals. It is not a team wiki, and the ground beneath it has shifted: the markdown-files-on-disk version is now "Logseq OG" on maintenance-only support, while the actively developed 2.0 keeps your graph in SQLite and is still labelled beta. tela is the other shape — a shared, permissioned team wiki whose canonical format stays markdown.
tela vs Logseq, at a glance
| Feature | tela | Logseq |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Organizations, groups, per-space roles, invite by email, Google/Microsoft/GitHub sign-in; per-org SSO on Enterprise | One person’s graph |
| Storage | Canonical markdown you own — export is a copy, not a conversion | Markdown/Org files in "Logseq OG"; SQLite in the 2.0 DB version |
| Files on your disk | Two-way — mount /dav/ as a folder of .md files with any WebDAV client, or bisync it with rclone | Yes in "Logseq OG" (maintenance-only); the 2.0 DB version keeps the graph in SQLite |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes — real-time multiplayer on documents and spreadsheets | RTC in the 2.0 beta — alpha, invite-only, paid |
| Ask your docs (AI) | Built in — ranked full-text always, plus semantic Ask that cites its sources (self-host brings its own model) | None official |
| Agents read & write (MCP) | Built in — agents read and write, scoped per token, over a hosted endpoint | No official server (community, via the desktop app’s local API) |
| Generate docs from your code | Yes — Atlas builds a cited, coverage-checked wiki from git repos and Jira | No |
Why teams switch to tela
- A real team surface — organizations, groups, shared spaces and per-space roles, rather than one person’s graph with sync added on.
- You keep files on disk without staying on the maintenance-only line: markdown is canonical server-side, and every space mounts as a folder of .md files that syncs both ways — so a local editor and a browser edit the same file.
- Markdown stays canonical; Logseq’s file-based line is now maintenance-only, and 2.0’s markdown export is documented as lossy.
- Ask your docs with citations, and let agents write pages through a built-in MCP server.
When Logseq is the better choice
For personal knowledge work Logseq is excellent and tela does not try to compete: an outliner where every block is addressable, block references and embeds, daily journals as the capture surface, a real query language, flashcards, PDF annotation — and, in the OG line, plain files on your own disk that any editor can open. If you are one person thinking in an outline, stay with Logseq.
Frequently asked questions
Is tela a good Logseq alternative?
Yes. A real team surface — organizations, groups, shared spaces and per-space roles, rather than one person’s graph with sync added on. tela is open-source (AGPL-3.0), self-hostable, and markdown-native, with a built-in MCP server so AI agents read and write your docs.
Can I self-host tela and connect AI agents to it?
Yes. Self-host tela for free (AGPL-3.0) or start on the free cloud tier. Its built-in MCP server lets agents like Claude search, read and write your wiki directly, on tools scoped by the token you give them.
When is Logseq the better choice?
For personal knowledge work Logseq is excellent and tela does not try to compete: an outliner where every block is addressable, block references and embeds, daily journals as the capture surface, a real query language, flashcards, PDF annotation — and, in the OG line, plain files on your own disk that any editor can open. If you are one person thinking in an outline, stay with Logseq.
Try tela
tela is an open-source (AGPL), self-hostable team wiki. Self-host it, or start on the free cloud tier at telawiki.com. See the MCP server docs for connecting your agents, or compare tela with other tools.
github.com/logseq — README, 2.0.1 release notes and db-version docs; the Logseq OG split announcement (verified 2026). tela facts current as of September 9, 2026.