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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Web App

Notesnook

Private, end-to-end encrypted, open-source notes with a free plan.

Visit Notesnook4.4

  • Rating

    4.4 / 5

  • Pricing

    Freemium

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    Web, Windows, macOS

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What is Notesnook?

Notesnook is an open-source note-taking app that is end-to-end encrypted by default, with apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and the web. The client and server are open source under the GPLv3 and the sync server can be self-hosted. The free plan includes unlimited notes on unlimited devices, with 50 MB of uploads a month and limits such as 50 notebooks and 50 tags. You can bring notes across from Evernote, Google Keep and Obsidian.

Pros: what Notesnook does well

  • End-to-end encrypted by default, even on the free plan
  • Open source (GPLv3), with a self-hostable sync server
  • Unlimited notes on unlimited devices for free

Cons: where it falls short

  • Free plan limits uploads to 50 MB a month
  • Caps of 50 notebooks and 50 tags on the free plan

Who Notesnook is for

Privacy-minded people moving their notes off Evernote.

Who can skip it

Teams that need shared wikis and databases.

Compare Notesnook

See how Notesnook stacks up, side by side, plus the lists it made.

Notesnook alternatives

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

All Note-Taking resources

Joplin

Focus: markdown. Shares notes and open source with Notesnook. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Rated 4.5 (Notesnook: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit

Evernote

Focus: web clipper, search and archive. Shares notes with Notesnook. Adds Chrome. Rated 4.0 (Notesnook: 4.4).

Web AppFree planWeb, iOS
4.0Visit

Simplenote

Focus: markdown, sync and minimal. Shares notes and evernote alternative with Notesnook. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Same 4.4 rating.

Web AppFreeWeb, iOS
4.4Visit

claude-obsidian

Focus: obsidian, claude code and second brain. Shares notes and open source with Notesnook. An AI tool, not a web app. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Rated 4.8 (Notesnook: 4.4).

AI ToolFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

Free alternatives to Notesnook

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

Logseq

Focus: PKM, Note-Taking and Graph Database. Shares Open Source and Privacy with Notesnook. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Rated 4.6 (Notesnook: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Trilium Notes

Focus: knowledge base and self-hosted. Shares notes and open source with Notesnook. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Adds Offline. Rated 4.6 (Notesnook: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

nb

Focus: bookmarks, command line and github. Shares notes and open source with Notesnook. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Adds Offline. Rated 4.5 (Notesnook: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.5Visit

Anytype

Focus: local-first, tasks and PKM. Shares privacy and notes with Notesnook. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Same 4.4 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.4Visit

Foam

Focus: wikilinks, backlinks and vs code. Shares notes and open source with Notesnook. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Same 4.4 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.4Visit

ArchiveBox

Focus: web archive, bookmarks and self-hosted. Shares open source with Notesnook. Free (Notesnook: Freemium). Rated 4.6 (Notesnook: 4.4).

Web AppFreeWeb, macOS
4.6Visit
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