awesome-note-taking

What is this? A hand-picked directory of 100+ note-taking apps, PKM tools, and knowledge management software — from simple markdown editors to full knowledge graphs. Whether you're a developer, student, writer, or researcher, you'll find the right tool here.

Know a great tool that's missing? Open a PR — contributions are very welcome!

Legend

Icon	Meaning
📖	Notes stored in plain text (Markdown, org-mode, wiki, etc.)
📕	Notes stored in a database or proprietary format
🤖	Android support or app (see also Termux for CLI tools)
🍎	iOS support or app
👍	Recommended — in active use for years by a PR author
🔁	Built-in multi-device sync (alternatively: Syncthing or any cloud provider)
🔒	End-to-end encryption support
⚠️	Archived / abandoned — kept for reference but no longer maintained

Contents

• Open Source
  • Native GUI
  • CLI
  • TUI
  • Editor Plugin
  • Electron
  • Tauri
  • Web UI
• Proprietary
• Quick Comparison
• Contributing

Open Source

Native GUI

• 📕🍎🤖🔁 AppFlowy - Open source alternative to Notion. Supports macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. AGPL-3.0 Flutter/Dart
• 📕 Cherrytree - A hierarchical note-taking app featuring rich text and syntax highlighting. GPL-3.0 Qt/C++
• 📕🍎🔁 DailyVox - Free AI voice diary for iOS with on-device transcription, mood tracking, Digital Twin, and knowledge graph. 100% offline, optional iCloud sync. MIT Swift/SwiftUI
• 📖 Fluster - All-in-one note-taking solution for modern students and academics, powered by Rust with integrated AI. ? Rust/TypeScript
• 📖🍎🤖🔁 GitJournal - Open source markdown notes editor with integrated Git syncing. Supports iOS, Android, Linux, and macOS. AGPL-3.0 Flutter/Dart
• 📖 Leo - PIM, IDE, and outliner that accelerates the work flow of programmers, authors, and web designers. MIT Python
• 📖 QOwnNotes - Open source plain-text file markdown note-taking application with Nextcloud / ownCloud integration. GPL-2.0 Qt/C++
• 📖 Red Notebook - Open source desktop journal using plain-text files. GPL-2.0 Python/GTK
• 📕 Revu - Local-first spaced repetition note-taking app for macOS with FSRS scheduling, Anki import, and study guides. GPL-3.0 Swift/SwiftUI
• 🤖🔁⚠️ Tomboy - GNOME desktop note-taking application for Linux, Windows, and macOS. Original project abandoned; see tomboy-ng for the active successor. LGPL-2.1 C#/Mono
• 📕 treesheets - Free form data organizer using hierarchical spreadsheet. Zlib C++
• 📖 Zim Desktop Wiki - Open source multi-platform desktop GUI to manage a collection of local wiki pages. GPL-2.0 Python/GTK

CLI

• 📖 IWE - A markdown-based knowledge management tool with CLI and LSP server. Turns markdown files into a navigable graph with backlinks and link completion. Works with VS Code, Neovim, Zed, and Helix. Apache-2.0 Rust
• 📕 lifeos-cli - A terminal-native LifeOS for notes, linked tasks, schedules, events, and timelogs. Apache-2.0 Python
• 📖 nb - A command line and local web note-taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application. AGPL-3.0 Shell
• 📖 todo-txt - A simple and extensible shell script for managing your todo.txt file. GPL-3.0 Shell
• 📖 zk - A command-line tool helping you to maintain a plain text Zettelkasten or personal wiki. GPL-3.0 Go

TUI

• 📖 FuzPad - A minimalistic note management solution powered by fzf. GPL-3.0 Shell
• 📖 Toney - A fast, lightweight, terminal-based note-taking app for the modern developer. MIT Go

Editor Plugin

• 🤖 Emacs - An open source, cross-platform, extensible, and customizable text editor. GPL-3.0 C/Emacs Lisp
  • 📖 Deft - An Emacs mode for quickly browsing, filtering, and editing directories of plain text notes, inspired by Notational Velocity. BSD-3-Clause Emacs Lisp
  • 📖 howm - Note-taking tool on Emacs that can be combined with any format. GPL-2.0 Emacs Lisp
  • 📖 Hyperbole/Koutliner - Multi-level autonumbered hypertextual outliner for Emacs. GPL-3.0 Emacs Lisp
  • 📖⚠️ Org-brain - Concept mapping in Emacs using org-mode. Last commit 2023; appears unmaintained. MIT Emacs Lisp
  • 📖 Org-mode - Plain-text markup and major mode for keeping notes, authoring documents, computational notebooks, and literate programming. GPL-3.0 Emacs Lisp
  • 📖 Org-roam - Plain-text personal knowledge management system inspired by Roam Research. GPL-3.0 Emacs Lisp
• 📖 vim-wiki - A personal wiki for Vim — a number of linked text files with their own syntax highlighting. MIT Vim Script
• Visual Studio Code - Microsoft text editor.
  • 📖 Emanote - A structured view of your plain-text notes. Successor to Neuron. AGPL-3.0 Haskell
  • 📖 Foam - VSCode plugin for personal knowledge management inspired by Roam Research. MIT TypeScript/VSCode

Electron

• 📕🔁 AFFiNE - Next-gen knowledge base that brings planning, sorting, and creating all together. Privacy first, open-source, customizable and ready to use. MIT Electron/TypeScript
• 📕🍎🤖🔒🔁 AnyType - Open source local-first app for tasks, notes, and more with E2EE and cross-platform sync. Source-available Electron/TypeScript
• 📖 Bangle.io - A free alternative to Notion that takes markdown notes saved right on your computer. AGPL-3.0 Web/TypeScript
• 📖 btw - Open source personal website builder. GPL-3.0 Electron/JavaScript
• 📖 Linked - Forget less by daily journaling, completely offline, secure, and free. Supports macOS, Windows, and Linux. GPL-3.0 Electron/TypeScript
• 📖🍎🤖🔁 Logseq - Local-first, non-linear, outliner notebook for organizing and sharing your personal knowledge base. AGPL-3.0 Electron/ClojureScript
• ⚠️ Notable - Simple note-taking app based on VS Code Editor. No longer open source as of v1.6. Proprietary Electron/TypeScript
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 SiYuan - A privacy-first, self-hosted, fully open source personal knowledge management software. AGPL-3.0 Electron/TypeScript+Go
• 📖🍎🤖🔒🔁 Standard Notes - A free, open-source, and completely encrypted notes app for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. AGPL-3.0 Electron/TypeScript
• 📖 SwarmVault - Local-first RAG knowledge base compiler with persistent markdown wiki, knowledge graph, hybrid SQLite FTS and embeddings, contradiction detection, and built-in MCP server. MIT Node.js/TypeScript
• 📖 Tangent Notes - An open source, local-first markdown note taking application designed to let you write the way you think. Apache-2.0 Electron/TypeScript
• 📖🤖🔁 TidGi - Customizable personal knowledge-base with git as backup manager and blogging platform, based on TiddlyWiki. MPL-2.0 Electron/TypeScript
• 📖 Zettlr - Markdown editor for academics and researchers. GPL-3.0 Electron/TypeScript

Tauri

• 📖🍎 Char - Open-source AI notepad for meetings with flexible AI stack and on-device storage. GPL-3.0 Tauri/Rust+TypeScript
• 📖 Inkwell - Portable Markdown editor with split view, live preview, themes, templates, focus mode, and diff viewer. Source-available Tauri/Rust
• 📖 Stik - Instant thought capture for macOS. Global hotkey summons a post-it note, type and close. Notes stored as plain markdown files. MIT Tauri/TypeScript+Rust
• 📕 Treedome - Open-source and local-first, encrypted note-taking application organized in tree-like structures. AGPL-3.0 Tauri/Rust

Web UI

• 📖⚠️ CodiMD - The free software version of HackMD. See HedgeDoc for the active community fork. AGPL-3.0 Web/JavaScript
• 📖 Docmost - Open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software. Notion/Confluence alternative with real-time collaboration. AGPL-3.0 Web/TypeScript
• 📖 Dokuwiki - A simple to use and highly versatile open source wiki software that doesn't require a database. GPL-2.0 Web/PHP
• 📖 Ephe - A Markdown paper for daily todo and thoughts. Privacy first, OSS, local-only. MIT Web/TypeScript
• 📖 Flatnotes - Self-hosted, database-less, plain-text markdown note-taking app. MIT Python/Vue
• 📖 Fossil - Source control software with built-in standalone wiki pages. BSD-2-Clause C
• 📖 HedgeDoc - Real-time collaborative markdown notes. Community successor to CodiMD. AGPL-3.0 Web/TypeScript
• 📕 Hypothes.is - Annotate anything online. BSD-2-Clause Web/Python
• 📖🍎🤖🔒🔁 Joplin - Open source note taking app that supports synchronization with E2EE. Available on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, and CLI. Supports import from Evernote. AGPL-3.0 Electron+React Native/TypeScript
• 📕⚠️ Laverna - Evernote-like note-taking web application with a Markdown editor. Abandoned since 2018. MPL-2.0 Web/JavaScript
• 📖🔁 Memos - Lightweight, self-hosted memo hub. Privacy first. MIT Go/React
• 📖 NattyNote - A free, open-source browser extension to take time-stamped YouTube notes. GPL-3.0 Browser Extension/JavaScript
• 📖⚠️ Neuron - Open-source app for managing plain-text notes in Zettelkasten style. Superseded by Emanote. AGPL-3.0 Haskell
• 📖🍎🤖🔒🔁 Notesnook - Fully open source and end-to-end encrypted note-taking app available on all platforms. GPL-3.0 Web/TypeScript
• 📖 Outline - Fast, collaborative team knowledge base. Self-hosted or cloud. BSL-1.1 Web/TypeScript
• 📖 SilverBullet - Free, open-source self-hosted PWA for markdown notes. MIT TypeScript/Go
• 📕 Solo - Minimalistic private note-taking app with focus on typography. MIT Web/TypeScript
• 📖 TiddlyWiki - A self-contained JavaScript wiki for the browser, Node.js, AWS Lambda, and more. BSD-3-Clause Web/JavaScript

Proprietary

• 📖🍎 Bear - Beautiful, flexible writing app for notes and prose. Apple platforms only (Mac, iPhone, iPad). Sync via iCloud with Bear Pro.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Capacities - Object-based note-taking app for networked thinking. Available on macOS, Windows, Linux, web, iOS, and Android.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Craft - Beautiful native document editor for Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, and Windows with real-time collaboration.
• 📕🍎🔁 DEVONthink - macOS and iOS app for storing, organizing, and working on documents and notes.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Evernote - An app designed for note-taking, organizing, task management, and archiving of different formats.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Google Keep - Google Keep is a note-taking service developed by Google. Available on the web and as a mobile app.
• 📖 HackMD - Helps developers write better documents and build active communities with open collaboration.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Heptabase - Visual note-taking tool for learning complex topics, with whiteboard-based card organization.
• 📕🍎🤖🔒🔁 Inkdrop - An app for organizing Markdown notes with E2EE sync. Available on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
• 📕🔁 JournalCalls - Voice journal and note-taking over a phone call. Exports to Markdown and Notion.
• 📖 MDLook (GitHub) - Portable offline Markdown editor for Windows using WebView2, with live preview, dark mode, KaTeX math, and Mermaid diagrams.
• 📕🍎🔁 Mem - AI-powered self-organizing workspace for notes and knowledge. Available on web and iOS.
• 📕🍎🔁 MindMirror - Note app for busy minds with AI search and smart organization. iOS available, Android coming soon.
• 📕🔁 MindWork - A Cursor-like AI workspace for deep and focused personal knowledge management.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Notebook - Mobile, web, and desktop app to take multiple forms of notes, from Zoho.
• 📖🍎🔁 NotePlan - Combines tasks, notes, and calendar all in one place. Available on Mac and iOS.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Notion - All-in-one workspace for notes, docs, wikis, projects, and collaboration.
• 📖🍎🔒🔁 Obsidian - Free for personal use app that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files. Optional E2EE sync via Obsidian Sync.
• 📖 Octarine - A fast, lightweight tool for writing, planning, and organizing in Markdown that stays yours.
• ⚠️ OktoNote - An AI-first note-taking app that auto-organizes notes into searchable cards. Website unreachable; status unclear.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 OneNote - Microsoft OneNote is a program for free-form information gathering and multi-user collaboration.
• ⚠️ Polar - An integrated reading environment to build your knowledge base. Website unreachable; appears abandoned.
• 📕🍎🔒🔁 Reflect - Fast, AI-powered note-taking app with end-to-end encryption. Available on Mac, Windows, web, and iOS.
• 📖🔁 Roam - A note-taking tool for networked thought.
• 📖 Save - Chrome extension and macOS menu bar app that saves any webpage as clean Markdown to a local vault, with a built-in MCP server exposing the vault to Claude.
• 📖🍎🤖🔁 Simplenote - Available for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, and the web. Supports Markdown.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Somnote - Record and save important information, ideas, and moments. Available for multiple platforms.
• 🤖 Squid - Android app to take digital handwritten notes for class, work, or fun. Markup PDFs and sign documents.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Supernotes - A multi-platform notes app built around markdown notecards and card nesting with real-time collaborative features.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Tana - Supertag-based knowledge tool with powerful structuring and AI-meeting features.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Taskade - A tree-structured note-taking and productivity app with real-time collaboration, AI agents, and multiple views. Available on web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and browser extensions.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 TheBrain - Mind mapping and personal knowledge base software application.
• 📖🍎🔁 Ulysses - Premium writing app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone with Markdown support. Apple platforms only.
• 📕🍎🤖🔁 Workflowy - Web-based organizational tool to create todo lists, notes, team projects, and more.
• ⚠️ Wridea - Web service to organize and improve ideas and notes by sharing with friends. Website appears dead.
• 📕🔁 CallBro - AI note taker, focus on meetings and online lectures without bots. Available on Mac.

Quick Comparison

A side-by-side overview of the most popular tools to help you choose:

Tool	Type	Storage	Sync	E2EE	Platforms	Plugins	Price
Obsidian	PKM	Markdown	paid add-on	optional	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android	1800+	Freemium
Joplin	Notes	Markdown	yes	yes	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android/CLI	yes	Free
Logseq	PKM/Outliner	Markdown	yes	—	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android	yes	Free
SiYuan	PKM	Database	yes	—	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android/Web	yes	Freemium
AFFiNE	Workspace	Database	yes	—	Win/Mac/Linux/Web	yes	Freemium
AppFlowy	Workspace	Database	yes	—	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android	yes	Free
Standard Notes	Notes	Encrypted	yes	yes	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android/Web	yes	Freemium
AnyType	PKM	Database	yes	yes	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android	—	Free
Notesnook	Notes	Encrypted	yes	yes	Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android/Web	—	Freemium
TiddlyWiki	Wiki	HTML/JSON	3rd-party	—	Web/Node.js	yes	Free
Org-mode	PKM	Org files	3rd-party	—	Emacs	yes	Free
Notion	Workspace	Cloud	yes	—	Win/Mac/iOS/Android/Web	yes	Freemium
Evernote	Notes	Cloud	yes	—	Win/Mac/iOS/Android/Web	limited	Freemium
Google Keep	Quick Notes	Cloud	yes	—	iOS/Android/Web	—	Free
OneNote	Notes	Cloud	yes	—	Win/Mac/iOS/Android/Web	limited	Free

This table covers the most-searched tools. See the full list above for 100+ options.

Contributing

Contributions are very welcome! Please, read the contribution guidelines first.