The most comprehensive, community-curated collection of note-taking tools.
Open source & proprietary — organized, rated, and actively maintained.

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⚠️	Archived / abandoned — kept for reference but no longer maintained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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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
• 📖 TopicSplit - Free offline semantic text grouper. Splits pasted text into topic segments by meaning, not word count. Perfect for breaking long articles into atomic notes for Obsidian, Logseq, and Notion. MIT Web/JavaScript
• 📖 TopicSplit - Free offline semantic text grouper — split pasted text into topic segments by meaning. Perfect for breaking articles, transcripts, or meeting notes into clean markdown for Obsidian/Logseq/Notion. 100% client-side, no server, no API key. MIT Web/HTML
• 📖 Meeting Splitter - Free offline meeting transcript splitter. Paste any Zoom/Teams/Meet transcript → get clean topic-segmented notes. 100% browser-based, no upload. MIT Web/HTML

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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.

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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.