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Roam Research vs Org-roam: catalog facts
Roam Research	Org-roam
Paid Paid subscription; current plans are listed on the Roam Research site.	Free Free and open source under the GPL version 3 or later.
Web	Windows, macOS, Linux
Linked notes for building a graph of ideas Outline-style writing that feels like a bulleted list	Plain-text notes that stay fully under your control Backlinks and a graph view for connecting ideas
Little detail is published on the homepage Proprietary with no open-source version	Requires Emacs and familiarity with Org mode No mobile app of its own
Web application, Hosted service	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.