Note-taking & Wikis · Germany (DE)
HedgeDoc
Collaborative real-time markdown notes
The switch
Notion→HedgeDocalso replaces HackMD, Google Docs
About
HedgeDoc is a free open-source platform for collaborative markdown notes, started in Germany. Self-host to keep all knowledge in-house.
Why we recommend it
- Open source (AGPL)
- Real-time collaboration
- Markdown-first
- Self-hostable
- Slide & book modes
EU vs USA
HedgeDoc vs Notion
Side-by-side on jurisdiction, data residency, and the rules that decide who can actually read your data.
Criteria
🇪🇺 HedgeDoc
🇺🇸 Notion
Headquarters
Germany (community)
San Francisco, CA, USA
Jurisdiction
EU
USA (CLOUD Act, FISA 702)
Data location
Self-host
Global, US-controlled (AWS)
GDPR-native
Yes
No
CLOUD Act / FISA exposed
No
Yes
Ad tracking
No
No
End-to-end encryption
No
No
Open source
Yes
No
Ownership
HedgeDoc community (non-profit)
Notion Labs Inc. (private, US VC-backed)
Founded
2015
2016
Compare head-to-head