foss_note_apps

📝 Free and OpenSource Note Taking Applications

There are many great free and open-source alternatives to closed source and/or paid note taking applications. This project aims to track and compare the feature set between the many different options with a focus on ‘Gratis’ (free as in free beer) open source note apps. ‘Libre’ (free as in free speech) projects are also welcome, but will likely need to be submitted via a pull request since the time in testing each different project is significant.

⚠️ Disclaimer: This repository displays both objective and subjective measures of feature quality. The owner of this repository reserves the right to make changes to any pull request.

⚖️ Feature Comparison

✅ = Feature exists (natively) in at least a limited fashion
🔌 = Feature exists in compatible plugin/extension/third-party
🚧 = Feature may exist but may not be practical or officially released
❌ = Feature does not yet exist
#️⃣ = Subjective measure of feature quality (on scale of 0-10)
Tip: Hover over emoji for additional information (🔗 link to related issue, 🔑 demo credentials, etc)

Name	Joplin	QOwnNotes	SilverBullet	TriliumNext	Nextcloud Notes
Logo
Source Code
Contributors
Last Commit
Source Language
License
Freeness	✅🔟	✅🔟	✅🔟	✅🔟	✅🔟
Documentation	✅9️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅9️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅3️⃣
Demo	❌	✅4️⃣	✅🔟	❌	❌
Editor	WYSIWYG	Markdown	Markdown	WYSIWYG	Markdown
Storage	Database	Filesystem	Filesystem / Database	Database	Filesystem
AI	❌	✅5️⃣	🔌6️⃣	🔌5️⃣	✅5️⃣
API	✅8️⃣	❌	✅8️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅8️⃣
App:Android	✅6️⃣	❌	❌	✅3️⃣	✅5️⃣
App:iOS	✅6️⃣	❌	❌	❌	✅5️⃣
App:Linux	✅🔟	✅🔟	❌	✅🔟	❌
App:MacOS	✅🔟	✅🔟	❌	✅🔟	❌
App:Terminal	✅6️⃣	❌	❌	❌	🚧5️⃣
App:WebApp	🚧6️⃣	❌	✅🔟	✅🔟	✅🔟
App:Windows	✅🔟	✅🔟	❌	✅🔟	❌
Automations	❌	✅9️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅8️⃣	❌
Calendar/Timeline	❌	❌	❌	✅7️⃣	❌
Diagraming	✅8️⃣	❌	✅6️⃣	✅8️⃣	❌
Docker	❌	❌	✅🔟	✅7️⃣	✅6️⃣
Encryption	✅9️⃣	✅8️⃣	❌	✅7️⃣	❌
Export	✅8️⃣	✅7️⃣	✅3️⃣	✅7️⃣	✅5️⃣
Formatting	✅7️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅9️⃣	✅7️⃣
Geolocation	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Handwriting	🔌6️⃣	❌	❌	✅2️⃣	❌
Journaling	🔌6️⃣	🔌7️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅6️⃣	❌
Import	✅8️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅3️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅4️⃣
Media:Attachments	✅6️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅7️⃣	✅5️⃣
Media:Audio	✅6️⃣	✅4️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅5️⃣
Media:Photos	✅6️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅5️⃣
Media:Videos	✅6️⃣	✅4️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅5️⃣
Multiple Users	✅6️⃣	❌	❌	❌	✅8️⃣
Note Embedding	❌	❌	❌	✅7️⃣	❌
Plugins	✅8️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅3️⃣	❌
Public Sharing	✅6️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅8️⃣
Revisions	✅8️⃣	✅9️⃣	❌	✅8️⃣	✅7️⃣
Search	✅5️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅9️⃣	✅5️⃣
Custom Shortcuts	❌	✅9️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅8️⃣	❌
Spellcheck	✅🔟	✅🔟	✅8️⃣	✅🔟	✅🔟
Splitscreen	❌	❌	❌	✅8️⃣	❌
Support	✅8️⃣	✅8️⃣	✅5️⃣	✅7️⃣	✅4️⃣
Sync	✅7️⃣	✅7️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅9️⃣	✅7️⃣
Tagging	✅6️⃣	✅6️⃣	✅7️⃣	✅4️⃣	✅2️⃣
Visualization	🔌6️⃣	❌	❌	✅7️⃣	❌
Web Clipping	✅8️⃣	✅9️⃣	🔌7️⃣	✅7️⃣	❌

Note: This list is by no means comprehensive and is provided on a best efforts basis. No guarantees are made to it’s accuracy or completeness. If you see an error or inaccuracy, please report it and contribute a fix if you can!

For links to other note taking projects, see:

An HTML version of this comparison table is here: https://meichthys.github.io/foss_note_apps/

👋 More Feature Comparisons

Check out my other feature comparisons:

📸 foss_photo_libraries

🤝 Contributing

Please contribute additions and corrections! When contributing, please add links to the source of the information. (i.e. link to an issue that indicates that a feature does not exist) Tip: Using a Markdown Editor helps with formatting.

🆘 Support

Maintaining this list of projects takes a lot of time. If you found this comparison helpful, please let me know by considering supporting me. This lets me know that someone is finding this project useful and gives me an incentive to keep it up to date. You can support me on Liberapay or Github Sponsors:

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