Memos Hosting: Private Markdown Notes on Your Own Server

Memos is an open-source (MIT) note-taking app built for speed: you open it, type a thought in Markdown, and it lands at the top of your timeline. No folders to choose, no document to name. Choose it with a plan, pay, and we build the VPS (KVM, NVMe, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) and install it in about two minutes after boot. You get:

• Memos 0.31.0, with its notes and attachments stored on your server in a single SQLite database and folder.
• An HTTPS address like yourname-x7k2.devoster.app with a Let's Encrypt certificate.
• Your admin account already created, and sign-up closed. In a fresh Memos the first person to sign up becomes the admin and anyone can register after that. Ours is set up before the app is reachable: you log in as admin with the generated password shown in the Devoster dashboard, where you can also reset it, and public sign-up is off.
• Dashboard controls to open the app, restart, stop or start it, read its logs, run an update and connect your own domain.

The app is free; you pay only the VPS plan, with 10% off yearly. The server comes with full root, free nightly backups kept 3 days plus one snapshot, a dedicated IPv4 and DDoS protection. Already have a Devoster VPS? You can install Memos on it from VPS Control, after the panel checks the OS, free ports 80/443 and disk, or reinstall the server with it, at no charge. Other apps that install this way are on the One-Click Apps page.

Memos feels closer to a private feed than to a notebook. Each note is a short "memo", and you organise by writing, not by filing:

• Markdown: headings, lists, links, code blocks and checkboxes, so a memo can be a to-do list you tick off later.
• Tags: type #idea or #work/meeting anywhere in a memo and it shows up under that tag, with nested tags for structure.
• Search and filters by text, tag and date, plus a calendar view of when you wrote what.
• Attachments: images and files can be added to a memo and are stored on your server.
• Pinning and archiving, to keep important memos on top and old ones out of the way.

It works well for a journal, a running log of ideas, saved links, meeting notes or a quick capture inbox that you later move into a fuller tool such as BookStack.

Every memo has a visibility setting, and it is worth understanding before you write anything sensitive:

• Private: only you can see it. New memos start private unless you change the default.
• Workspace (protected): visible to anyone who is logged in to your Memos server, useful if you add family or colleagues.
• Public: visible to anyone on the internet who has the link or opens your server's explore page, without logging in.

Public memos are handy for sharing a list or a snippet, but treat them as published. Double-check the visibility before you save anything personal.

Sign-up is closed on this install, so nobody can create an account on your server. If you want to invite others, add users yourself in the settings, or reopen public sign-up under Settings → System for as long as you need it.

The web app at your address works in mobile browsers, and you can add it to your phone's home screen to open it like an app. There are also third-party mobile apps for Memos made by its community; check that the one you pick supports your Memos version, since the API changes between releases.

Memos also has an API with access tokens you create in your settings, so scripts and automation tools can post memos for you, for example saving a link from a shortcut or logging an event from n8n.

Almost nothing: Memos uses about 17 MB of RAM at idle, and text notes take very little disk. The Nano plan (1 vCPU, 1 GB, 25 GB) is both the minimum and the recommended plan, for one person or a small group.

Consider Micro (1 vCPU, 2 GB, 50 GB) only if you attach a lot of photos and files, or want to run other light apps on the same server, such as Vaultwarden or Actual Budget, which you can do yourself with root.

No email needed. Memos doesn't rely on mail, and outbound mail ports are blocked by default on Devoster VPS plans anyway. If you forget the admin password, reset it from the Devoster dashboard.

Backups: nightly backups (kept 3 days) and your snapshot slot cover the whole VPS. Everything Memos keeps is in /opt/devoster/data/memos, so copying that folder off the server over SFTP now and then gives you a complete second copy of your notes.

Updates: we check new Memos versions and apply them in a maintenance hour you choose, or when you press Update now. A snapshot of the VPS is taken first, and if Memos doesn't come back healthy the server is rolled back automatically.

The server is unmanaged: you have full root, and its security is your responsibility. Our VPS hardening checklist covers SSH keys and the firewall.