OPEN SOURCE NOTE TAKING APP FREE

Though I'm still eyeing open source options with Logseq, just waiting on their mobile app to pick up and properly support plugins. I've since been using obsidian for about 9 months now, which is longer than my time with Joplin, and I will say that, once I got a stable sync going (I'm using the simple sync plugin and my own s3 compatible server), the plugin support, decent mobile app, and native markdown files have won me over. I actually moved to just using vimwiki style setup with markdown and a markdown editor app on my phone for several years, before I stumbled across Obsidian.

There was a tool that could extract files into standard markdown format, then repack them, but the overhead was tiring, and meant a few key environments lacked access, namely when I was accessing a server from the rack, and when the mobile app acted up. Having started with Joplin, the three things that took me away were the (at the time) lacking mobile support, periodic syncing collisions, and probably most importantly, their non-standard file format. In notable, I can tag a note as Books/CS, and CS/Books, and it'll show up in corresponding folder-like structures in the left panel. I guess it needs some effort to organize and link existing notes. Pointing it at my existing notes makes it just show up as a huge mess of unstructured notes. Why not obsidian? Was never able to grok obsidian. Why not joplin? Mostly because joplin stores notes in an sqlite database instead of a simple folder structure making it not easily accessible by normal unix tools and editors. The notational-fzf-vim plugin is superb for that.įor web-clipping, I just use the markdownload extension in firefox and save the markdown file in the notes folder. The tagging support is superb, you can cross-link notes, render math using katex, and export to pdf.īecause of the simple folder structure, you can also use vim+fzf to search/navigate/create/edit your notes. Plus, you can just sync the folder using any syncing service, and use Noteless on Android. It's simple and you can point it to a folder with markdown files and attachments. I tried many note-taking apps and finally settled on Notable.

If Joplin could do better sharing (with eg a colleague or spouse) on mobile and better separation of work/private notes (like different storage locations) it would be just about perfect for me for a note taking app, but then my needs are pretty simple. Maybe this is an unfair reading, as they do claim to be privacy focused, but I am worried that they will discover far to many interesting and fun things to do with user data and I just don't really like where that sounds like its headed. I don't want my ideas connected with humanity and I certainly don't want my notes used to train someones LLM. Privacy wise, statements like 'The aim of Logseq is to establish a better environment for both learning and collaboration, enabling us to form a network that connects our ideas and enhances the collective knowledge of humanity.' worry me. I don't have a problem with paying for software, but I don't like getting embedded in it when I don't know what the cost will be.

OPEN SOURCE NOTE TAKING APP FREE

I looked at logseq as an alternative to joplin but there were too many little flags that suggested to me that privacy and being free might not be forever. It closes the loop for me, and is the best of both worlds where I get to just type the annotations at my normal typing speed, but also see the formatted output so I can make changes as I go. * I really like editing with the preview pane open. Just knowing to use asterisks and underscores and whatever speeds you up a lot from having to go click the 'bold' button or whatever. * It is worth getting comfortable with some of the basic markdown annotations. * Pasting screenshots from your clipboard into your markdown works automagically on desktop, drops the file with a generated name into the Joplin file structure. * WebDAV to sync your files, I just use some of my fastmail storage and draft off the $5 a month I already pay them I have never personally had success with tagging for organization, but maybe that's just me. I've found that a directory-style structure works well for me, especially because the integrated search is also good if I forget where I put something. I use notebooks and nested notebooks heavily.

Open source note taking app