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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

nb

A command-line notebook for notes, bookmarks and to-dos in plain text.

Visit nb4.5

  • Rating

    4.5 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Advanced

  • Works on

    macOS, Linux, Windows

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

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What is nb?

nb is a free, open-source note-taking tool for the terminal that also saves bookmarks, to-dos and archived web pages. Everything is stored as plain text in Git-backed notebooks, with tags, links, search, encryption and a local web view, so you can sync your notes anywhere without a lock-in.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros: what nb does well

  • Notes, bookmarks and to-dos in one tool
  • Syncs with Git
  • Free and open source

Cons: where it falls short

  • Command line only for most features
  • Windows needs WSL or similar

Who nb is for

Terminal fans who want notes and bookmarks stored as plain text they own.

Who can skip it

Anyone who wants a polished graphical notes app.

nb alternatives

Not sold on nb? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Note-Taking resources

zk

Focus: zettelkasten and markdown notes. Shares command line and open source with nb. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.5Visit

Foam

Focus: wikilinks, backlinks and vs code. Shares notes and open source with nb. Rated 4.4 (nb: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.4Visit

SiYuan

Focus: second brain, block editor and backlinks. Shares open source and github with nb. Adds iOS and Android. Rated 4.7 (nb: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit

claude-obsidian

Focus: obsidian, claude code and second brain. Shares notes and open source with nb. An AI tool, not a desktop app. Rated 4.8 (nb: 4.5).

AI ToolFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

Free alternatives to nb

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Flatnotes

Focus: markdown notes, self-hosted and search. Shares open source and github with nb. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Same 4.5 rating.

Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.5Visit

jrnl

Focus: journal, daily log and plain text. Shares command line and open source with nb. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.5Visit

TiddlyWiki

Focus: wiki, notebook and single file. Shares open source and github with nb. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Same 4.5 rating.

Web AppFreeWeb, Offline
4.5Visit

Logseq

Focus: PKM, Note-Taking and Graph Database. Shares Open Source with nb. Adds iOS, Android and Web. Rated 4.6 (nb: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
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