Feddit.onlineWhat are the best foss note taking apps?
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SunshineThat syncs notes from your phone to your computer
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Well, I’ve settled for Joplin with their sync server running on Tailscale/Headscale, I like it a lot (except for the search which is atrocious in general and on mobile especially).
Are the notes stored in plain text files or in a database? Is it possible / easy to edit the notes with an external program?
They’re stored in a database, which is why I prefer Obsidian instead.
Obsidian isn’t foss unfortunately
But at least not US made, it’s Canadian.
But silverbullet.md IS foss. Very similar to Obsidian, but F/OSS. It also stores your files in .md files in a directory hierarchy on the file system - very easy to backup.
You can do both iirc
Its in a database, but you can have it dump a backup as plain text, though that may require a plug in.
Actually it may be an option. I use Onedrive as the backend for sync on mine, with encryption, and I beleive its all individual notes, (all encryoted).
+1 for Joplin, you can sync with self hosted stuff too:
I should check Joplin again against Obsidian. Just browsed their website and it’s a bit sad to see their sponsors mostly doing shady stuff. Buying TikTok likes or getting help writing essays for university aren’t quite the fields i would have liked to be associated with as a product
I use joplin with nextcloud.
i use Joplin via nextcloud. It can also use Dropbox.
i also agree with another poster, search kinda sucks
I am all in on Logseq. Takes a bit of getting used to, but it regularly saves my butt.
Yep, me too.
When I stepped into my current job Logseq literally saved me from going mad / burnout.
A few years in though and the (lack of) Todo management is causing me trouble as the tasks still slip through my fingers…
Joplin
Joplin is solid and gets the job done. I was fine with it as a OneNote alternative but once I tried out Obsidian I understood immediately what all the hype is about Obsidian. Using links instead of the standard folder structure is much more intuitive and functional for me. I highly recommend Obsidian even though it isn’t FOSS, since they have a pretty good ethos on not being locked into specific apps, and all the notes are stored in text files so you could easily migrate in the future if you change your mind about Obsidian or if they as a company do something questionable.
I’ve heard of Logseq as a FOSS alternative to Obsidian and would consider looking into that too.
I have tried to go from Joplin to Obsidian several times because Obsidian seems way more expandable with plug ins etc, and everytime I hate it and go back within a day.
Which is also notable a bit because moving all my notes between the two is a huge chore.
I just hate the Obsidian interface a lot.
Silverbullet.md is an actual open source note taking application, Obsidian is not (and they’re kind of slimy/evasive about it). I haven’t used Obsidian myself but a coworker was showing it to me when I was talking about Silverbullet - they’re similar.
I like AnyType Its like Notion but Open Source, E2EE, P2P & Local first.
Logseq is also pretty cool. FOSS Alternative to Obsidian.
It you want very simple notes like Google Keep and you are into Selfhosting checkout Anchor (https://github.com/ZhFahim/anchor)
P2p? N00b here, why does a notes app need peers, ELI5?
It you decide you dont want their Servers for sync, your Devices will sync to each other directly peer to peer :)
AnyType seems like a fun app, although its Amplitude tracker is a bit less desirable. Thanks for the recommendations!
Nextcloud Notes covers all my needs.
I used this too. Saves as a .md file which is synced to all my devices.
Joplin.
If you want cross platform, Joplin might be best option right now. But I am keeping an eye on Beaver Notes.
I am loving Silverbullet. https://silverbullet.md/
Are you using it for journalling? Ie start each day on a new dated page?
I’m trying to move from Logseq to Silverbullet as it feels like the right thing to do, but the learning curve is like slamming into a brick wall.
I had to adjust my “thinking” when moving from Logseq myself. It’s a hybrid of organized notes in folders with tags (and #sub/tags, which are great) and a “stream” in the form of journals. It took me a month or so of tinkering to really “get it”
I essentially boil it down to a handful of root folders: 1. Jouranls 2. Inbox (the built-in “quick notes") 3. Travel 4. Bookings (using page backlinks to link to travel) 5. Media (which contains info for things like what books I’m reading, games I’m playing, etc) 6. Locations - so I can do backlinks (Logseq style) between cities, businesses, etc. 7. Contacts
The “killer feature” for me is page frontmatter combined with page templates and onCreation events, which results in query-able objects much like the Logseq DB version. It isn’t quite as pretty but once you get your schema / frontmatter / templates in place it’s REALLY nice.
Because it’s programmable (in lua) you can extend it quite a lot. For my daily journal pages I have queries showing my current tasks, bringing in other data like recurring tasks from Vikunja, and a daily “news” section pulled from Wikipedia. I also have Lua scripts to track travel, put the weather on every page, etc.
I use it for everything. Shopping lists, travel planning, daily journals, tracking receipts for bookings for flights/trains/lodging/etc.
Ok, I think you’ve given me more motivation to look at it again.
Thanks.
Neutrinote is solid.
Definitely got that pre-Android 6.0 vibe.
Quillpad
It is supposed to have a sync option but I don’t care about that.
Notesnook
I also endorse Notesnook. Setting up your own server is fussy, but it works great.
There’s Anytype, which is similar to Notion.
You can set it up to sync over lan only, with your own server, or with their servers. It’s E2E encryption
Anytype isn’t ’open source’.
Pretty sure it is
https://github.com/anyproto
Look at the license file. They are using their own custom license. Being made available on github doesn’t make it is open source. Anytype could be considered ‘source available’.
(I specified this just because OP asked for open source. I contribute sometimes to foss apps, and it bothers me that the term foss get misinterpreted. It’s not you, even most companies don’t know the right terms to be considered foss. If you look up anytype on wayback machine, they used to proudly claim they were foss lol)
Emacs with org-mode. Use beorg, android emacs client or any text editor to sync.
beorg does not seem to be on F-Droid, though?
No but there’s definitely a good Android alternative.
Silverbullet.md for actual notes with formatting and such.
Quillpad for checklists.
I personally like obsidian because it supports extensions and linking note but its way too convoluted if you’re not looking into these features. Its technically proprietary (with an american company behind it) but the extension ecosystem is FOSS. Logseq is a good FOSS alternative tho.
I used Joplin for a while and liked it for literature notes. Currently I use obsidian, but as I also use that for pen&paper notes I am thinking of going back to Joplin for academic stuff.
Don’t know if this find a lot of people or if it is still the greatest choice but I use Notesnook.
It’s probably better for documentation but I use bookstack for everything
Emacs.
Fancy meeting you here brother. Ready for our next battle?
– VIM, in a snowy field, dressed in medieval knight armour, clutching a sword and a half broken shield, with the bodies of both Emacs’ and VIM’s comrades in arms strewn about
As others mentioned, Joplin is a solid option (with lots of plugins too). Notesnook too is good (if you’re willing to pay a subscription). If you are willing to wait a bit, there’s Beaver Notes. Currently they are working on syncing between devices and a new mobile client.
I use Quilpad.
Logseq, Joplin, both synced via Filen.
Also still use Obsidian at work.
I’m a fan of all of them.
Tried silverbullet?
I’m slooowwwllllyyy trying to transition from Logseq, but, yeah… not sure
I’ll check it out, thanks! Why are you transitioning from Logseq?
For me, Logseq does a really good job, but I’m finding it difficult to keep track of ToDos and silverbullet just seems like it’s a bit simpler and could do everything I need
I’m also seeing Logseq head towards a database-first version, which I’m not a fan of, so wanted to try other markdown file-first options before / if I have to jump ship
However, Silverbullet’s learning curve is much steeper than Logseq’s.
Thank you!
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Syncthing and anything that can work with plain text / markdown files
I’m using Logseq on 2 laptops, but the Android app slows down when you have several years of daily journal pages linked to hundreds of other content pages, so it’s fine for personal stuff (aka graph), but slows down too much for my work stuff (graph)
So for my phone I’m often just using Markor to edit a journal page as it’s faster (it doesn’t have to find all the links)