Trilium NotesOrganise a personal wiki with nested notes, links, attachments and searchable reference material.
Free open-source desktop app · no feature paywalls · optional server uses your own resources
Notes, tasks & docs
Joplin
Free optionOpen sourceLocal
Keep searchable notes, attachments and notebooks locally, with optional encrypted sync.
What you can use it for
Keep searchable notes, attachments and notebooks locally, with optional encrypted sync.
- Markdown and rich-text editing; desktop and mobile apps.
- Optional encrypted sync with supported storage providers.
Workflow coverage and comparison notes
Replace personal notes, linked reference material and a small personal knowledge base. Not a replacement for Notion relational databases, automations or real-time team collaboration. Obsidian itself is already free; this is an optional different notes workflow, not a claim that its base app requires payment. Open-source markdown note-taking and to-do application with end-to-end encryption syncing across all desktop and mobile devices for free.
Before you switch
Joplin Cloud is paid and optional. Dropbox/OneDrive sync uses your own account and its storage allowance; a self-hosted sync server costs hardware, hosting and backups. No paid API is needed for ordinary notes. No Notion-style relational databases or multiplayer editing; notes live in an app database rather than a directly editable Markdown vault.
Alternatives to these paid apps
Each comparison covers the workflow described above, rather than every paid feature.
More for the same workflow
See alternatives →Trilium Notes
SiYuanKeep linked notes and structured personal knowledge in a local workspace.
Free local notes and basic features · sync features are paid
ZettlrWrite and organise Markdown documents, research notes and longer manuscripts.
Free open-source desktop editor · local files · no document quota