Developers decided recently to open-source their application. Comes with a generous free version, rich text editor and import functionality from: Files (txt, html, and .md markdown) and from other note taking apps: OneNote, EverNote, Standard Notes, Simplenote, Google Keep, Bear notes and Joplin.
Reviewed by Marcus Holmberg
Notesnook
notesnook.com 2 ratings so far*
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Threat level
Covered
A covered pick. Anyone can use it as a private drop-in, with no setup or know-how. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Now fully open-source after the developers opened the code, which removes the biggest old objection, though the Pakistan jurisdiction will matter to some threat models. The free tier is genuinely generous and the encryption is end-to-end, putting it in direct competition with Standard Notes. Pick Notesnook if you want a rich text editor and easy import from other apps without paying day one. The trade against Standard Notes is a younger audit history, so weigh maturity if that’s your priority.
GitHub at a glance
streetwriters/notesnook
Stars
14,288
+ 167 this week
Last commit
15d ago
healthy
License
GPL-3.0
Latest release
v3.4.2
15d ago
Stars, last 37d
Website at a glance
notesnook.com
C score 50
Basic website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 5d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
Notesnook alternatives
PrivacyNotes Zero-knowledge notes, tasks, files, passwords and journal secured by a single 12-word recovery phrase, with no email or password required. The crypto core and database schema are published for audit. No subscription model.
Standard Notes Free accounts come with a good set of features already, even in the long run if you are fine with plain text notes.
Joplin Synchronize notes across devices, publish and collaboration are for paid subscriptions only.
Anytype A local-first, end-to-end encrypted knowledge base and note-taking app with peer-to-peer sync, built as a privacy-respecting alternative to Notion.
Cryptee Free accounts come with 100MB storage. Your documents are encrypted before they leave your device, so Cryptee can't see your documents. Use the code "privacytools" at the…
Turtl Free accounts come with storage of up to 50MB of note data and collaborate with 3 people each space.
Notesnook license, in plain English
GPL-3.0 Strong copyleft
Free to use and modify, but anything you distribute that is built on it must also be open under the same license.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Strong copyleft keeps every distributed version open. A vendor cannot fold this into a closed product and ship it without releasing their changes.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
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