Open Source @lemmy.ml wabbit @lemm.ee 2d ago

Open source note taking apps?

Hi. Basically, I'm asking for suggestions. Do you know any good note taking app that works on linux desktop? I'm looking for something that I can use instead of Notion or Obsidian, with some nice to have:

Open source (that's the reason I'm not that much into Obsidian, it could disappear tomorrow and I could not replace it with a community maintained fork)
Markdown based. I'd like to know that I can replace that app for another one when I want, and that's not possible when they use their own obscure format
Local. I'm not interested in paying monthly for cloud storage. And actually, I'd prefer to know for certain that nothing leaves my local machine
Nice UX. I know that using plain text files and vim might do the job, but I'd like something more user friendly and with nice features (Notion, for example, nails it in my opinion)
Bonus: Can also be used on android (I'm aware this is a though one, and is not a deal breaker)

I know that all those requirements are hard to fulfill and I don't even know if something like that exists, so I'd appreciate any kind of suggestion. For example, It'd be great if an open source like that exists, but I'm not completely closed to open-source-ish proprietary apps (e.g. licenses not really open but close enough), as long as they are free to use and work on linux.

Edit: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The most suggested alternative was Joplin so I'll give it a try. However, as most of you mentioned, at the core it's all markdown so I could easily try the other alternatives with the same knowledge base at a later point :)

46 comments

Joplin - switched two weeks ago and I’m super happy. Open source, many extensions, sync via WebDAV, app for all systems,… Perfect system for me :).
- The link to the Joplin's website is https://joplinapp.org/
- Yeah I use Joplin as well it’s good but I can’t say it looks good. They could just copy the UI of some other app and it would be the best note app ever. Another thing missing is a web version that doesn’t require syncing everything to the browser storage and themes in iOS.
- How's the data portability? Like, if you decide to move everything away from it, for whatever reason, would your notes be easily migrated to another platform?
  
  When I ditched Evernote, the nightmare to get my notes into a different platform really left a sour taste in my mouth.
  
  Now I prefer plain txt files for anything I plan to keep, and something like Synology Notes for things I need organized, but wouldn't care if they were trapped in the Synology Notes platform.
  
  It's also just markdown text files, saved locally (but syncronizable to cloud/webdav etc...). So in short, yeah you can move things back and forth between joplin and obsidian, or one of many many markdown editors.
- Joplin is great. I have its data stored locally with encryption, and I sync across devices with Syncthing. It also has built-in support for some cloud providers like you mentioned, and since it supports local encryption, you don't need to depend on the cloud provider's privacy policy.
  
  Setting it up on multiple devices was a bit complex, but the documentation is there. Follow the steps, don't just waltz through the setup assuming it will work intuitively. I made that mistake and while it was not the end of the world, it would've saved me 15 minutes if I'd just RTFM.
- +1 for Joplin...
  
  Daily driver. Quite happy with it.
- Agreed. I tried pretty much every other alternative because Joplin's UI seems a bit dated and I'm a sucker for eye candy. But in the end I came back to Joplin. It's really good and the UI actually grows on me too. Not modern and flashy but also not ugly and it works well in practice.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Logseq yet.
- Logseq has a horrendous UX. The concept is amazing but check back in a decade to see if its usable.
- Also use logseq having switched from Joplin. Love the concept.
  
  Why did you stay with it over Joplin? As a Joplin user, I am curious.
Joplin

Beaver Notes. The android version is in early dev called Beaver pocket. Do note, it does not have folder/notebook feature afaik

SiYuan. You can notes as Markdown files but their sync requires payment (I don't know much about Siyuan's pricing). I don't use this as it has "AI", it can be disabled but I didn't need it in the first place.

Joplin and Beaver Notes (soon) support syncing with syncthing and other similar options (Joplin also has it's own paid cloud sync afaik)

The rest are available on Linux, but if you export the notes, you can use Markor on Android

Logseq Logseq has a learning curve, but it supports markdown. Your notes are scattered around, not notebook/folder like feature. They are also working on "AI".

MarkText

mdSilo

Inkdown

Folio

Iotas
- SiYuan's AI features only work if you have an OpenAI API key, or host your own LLM locally.
  
  They have their own sync service but also support self hosting WebDAV or S3 servers. Unfortunately, even self hosting requires a one time payment for the Pro version.
  
  Other than that, SiYuan is literally an open source Obsidian clone.
- Seconding Markor for Android. I originally installed it because I was sick of all the note-taking apps that store your notes away in hidden directories and proprietary formats. I've been using it for years and it's not let me down yet.
- I second Joplin. I use it on Android and sync it locally (and only locally) with my Mac. It uses Markdown.
  
  Joplin & sync to my self-hosted Nextcloud (with many other sync options)
I recommend Notesnook. It is open source, cross platform, and cloud synchronized E2E encrypted. I know cloud based wasn't something you wanted especially, but I thought it was worth mentioning because it is encrypted.
- Yeah, technically you can self-host it but on boy its configuration is convoluted. I decided that trying it out on their cloud would be better for my mental health.
  
  The documentation from Notesnook sucks, but this tutorial will have you sorted: https://sh.itjust.works/post/31407921
- Notesnook is fucking fantastic.
  
  I have spent over a decade - no I am not fucking joking I genuinely mean that - searching for a good Evernote / Onenote replacement. I have tried everything. Obsidian, Joplin, Silverbullet, Trilium, etc, etc, etc, etc, god I have forgotten the names of all the different note apps I've tried. They have all sucked. Joplin sucked about the least, but it still never really convinced me to get my stuff off of Onenote.
  
  Notesnook blows them all away. Syncing is instantaneous (literally, you can type into a note on your phone and watch the words appear one at a time on your laptop), you've got S3 storage for attachments, sharable notes that can be password protect and set to self-destruct, lockable notes, read only notes, everything is exportable in multiple different formats, notes can be linked to multiple notebooks, notebooks can be nested, notes can be tagged, there's bi-directional notebook linking, an attachment manager, every note has an auto-generated table of contents, the WYSIWYG editor is beautiful and works flawlessly, they have a web-app (unlike Joplin or any of the other commonly recommended solutions), there's a web clipper that works really nicely with multiple different clipping formats, the phone app has one for one feature parity with desktop and web, they've got an absolutely beautiful code-block system with a copy button built right in so it's incredible for storing config files or instructions for a self-hosting process... I could go on but I think I've ranted enough.
  
  Also, just to be clear, Notesnook is fully self-hostable. There's an excellent guide here: https://sh.itjust.works/post/31407921. If you self-host, you get all the pro features automatically.
  
  You can host the web-app as well if you like - it doesn't have a dockerized version yet, but the code is all up on their github - but you can also use the web-app on their server to connect to your back-end, so it's really not necessary.
https://anytype.io/
- The source code is open, but Its not traditionally open-source.
  
  Thats good enough for me, but worth noting.
I get what you say about Obsidian just falling off of the face of the earth, but it is just that, markdown, so you can migrate it to any MD based notes app, like Joplin.

Now, I don't think those meet the nice UX requirement.
- Was going to say the same. Obsidian has very little proprietary stuff in it, other than maybe some plugins users may elect to use. Other than that, it's just folders full of markdown files.
Well if you happen to find a good app that does what you want on desktop, then you can complement it on Android with Markor , it's "markdown native" and it has nice extra options like adding list elements, quick formatting etc. All based on markdown, can be easily switched between editor mode and preview(markdown rendered) mode.
QOwnNotes https://www.qownnotes.org/
can't believe nobody mentioned silver bullet yet
Shameless plug, but I had almost the same requirements so I went and made the app myself https://github.com/RoBoT095/printnotes

Desktop needs more work but you can for now use the appimage. Once it's in a better state I'll make flatpaks and maybe other types like rpm and deb packages
- I forgot to mention your app, I use it on my phone. Pretty fast app.
  
  I was planning to add an issue - when the numbered list reaches 3 digits, it overflows to the next line. This was the reason I went back to Joplin. But I have high hopes for your app :)
Quillpad has an interface like Google Keep - which for mobile it's one of the best ones out there IMO. It's also markdown-based, local-first, open source, gluten-free, vegan, etc
I think you are looking for one of these

NotesNook (best free tier in my opinion)

logseq (like an open source obsidian)

Joplin (cloud is paid but you can selfhost)

Standard Notes (only support plain text on free tier)
I've recently discovered Trilium : markdown, electron app but works in pure web too if you host it somewhere, opensource, UX is ok by my standards, and the mobile web app works on Android too. And there is something of an ecosystem around, with extensions for browsers and the such. Sadly, I've also (and as recently) discovered its development was halted.

But there's hope, and a TriliumNext project has seen light, which took right where Trilium stopped (and, from what I understood, they're still mostly compatible at that point).
Get a nvim distribution like lazy or lunar or nvchad, etc and install obsidian.nvim.
- Note to OP: you don't want to use obsidian, but obsidian.nvim is not related and not dependent on the software with the same name. Obsidian.nvim offers a Zettelkasten approach too.
  https://github.com/epwalsh/obsidian.nvim https://youtu.be/5ht8NYkU9wQ
https://github.com/YangDai2003/OpenNote-Compose
Though it might be lacking in terms of UX.
You are really gonna want something beyond Markdown if you are taking anything other than the most basic of notes. Markdown lacks so, so many features & you will likely end up buying into some incompatible fork like the one behind Obsidian.
https://tiddlywiki.com/ is one of my favorites. Even legacy versions still work, since it's just JavaScript. Tiddloid Lite works well on Android.
When searching the Flathub store for markdown editors, I found Folio, which works well for me. I use Syncthing fork to sync my notes folder between Android and Linux, and use https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.printnotes.printnotes on Android to edit it.

46 comments