# Notesnook (Evernote Alternative) **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/notesnook-evernote-alternative/174 **Category:** Tool Suggestions **Tags:** completed **Created:** 2022-10-02T07:34:27Z **Posts:** 54 ## Post 1 by @asjfbueigrebkb — 2022-10-02T07:34:27Z Hi, Have you guys looked into Notesnook as a recommended tool for Notebooks section on the website? I was looking for an Evernote replacement and I came up on this through the subreddit. It looks the most similar to Evernote out of all the options and has been made open source recently. Has anyone here used it and if you have, do you recommend it? Thanks! --- ## Post 2 by @vicky — 2022-10-02T12:22:18Z IMO it is not an replacement for Standard Notes, If you are paying for the SN plans, as they offer more functionality. However NotesNook does have promise, and is certainly a decent alternative to Evernote or Joplin (IMO Joplin is currently better). If you are looking for a Evertnote alternative, then it is indeed a toss up between Joplin and Notesnook. Notesnook does look better appearance wise, but Joplin has been there for a long time and are fully Open Source. Currently NotesNook only has clients Open Source and Not the Back End (Will be in the future). Also Joplin has a web clipper, while Notesnook does not. Else Both are functionally same. If you want the clipper go for Joplin, else Notesnook. --- ## Post 3 by @matchboxbananasynergy — 2022-10-02T18:51:11Z Notesnook is on our radar. The relevant part is now open-source (the backend is secondary, as it’s less of a concern is end-to-end encryption is implemented correctly). After digging a little bit more, I’m not currently seeing a security audit for Notesnook. In contrast to that, Standard Notes which is one of the options that we currently recommend has had an [independent audit](https://s3.amazonaws.com/standard-notes/security/Report-SN-Audit.pdf). On the other hand, Notesnook has “[Notesnook Vericrypt](https://vericrypt.notesnook.com/)” which is supposed to be a tool that verified that your data is actually encrypted as it’s supposed to be. More research is needed. --- ## Post 5 by @wfoex — 2022-10-13T18:26:51Z Why so many laps to add to notesnook? They must do it today. --- ## Post 6 by @matchboxbananasynergy — 2022-10-13T19:44:43Z Privacy Guides isn’t merely a list of software that looks or sounds cool. We like to take our time and evaluate our recommendations before adding them, because we feel like we have a responsibility to our community to appropriately vet what we suggest. That goes both for recommendations as well as our guides. If you would like to expedite the process, we’re more than happy to have members of our community assist us in evaluating projects, but we will not add something _just because_, without having first taken a very good look at it. --- ## Post 7 by @vicky — 2022-10-14T07:06:57Z Notesnook, has not got an audit yet, and has quite a few bugs. Honestly I feel it still needs a few months perhaps. Also I am unsure if the metadata is encrypted too!! But it surely is on the right track. --- ## Post 9 by @Lumber0147 — 2022-12-22T17:19:17Z > [@matchboxbananasynergy](#): > > Notesnook is on our radar What about Xournal++ ? Sadly its the only one ive found so far which supports graphic tablets --- ## Post 12 by @Anonymous26 — 2023-01-05T19:50:18Z I heard about Notesnook recently from a friend, and I have been looking into it and it seems fairly decent. Wondering if anyone else has used it or has any thoughts on it as a service --- ## Post 13 by @stillcoat — 2023-01-07T22:48:19Z I use it and I love it. The developers are really active on it and new features are released often. You can get the premium version for only $10 a year if your a student --- ## Post 14 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-01-08T13:21:08Z Not sure where you see 10 a year @stillcoat? But yeah it’s a great solution I also started testing it lately and must say it’s better than the other solutions that offer e2ee. Still missing Notion every day haha. --- ## Post 15 by @stillcoat — 2023-01-08T13:56:52Z Oh sorry looks like I forgot to mention that it was the student plan. And Yeah I also miss Notion, I still use it but not as much. If they ever add E2EE, i’m going to jump back --- ## Post 16 by @sbeve — 2023-01-08T21:33:22Z > [@ph00lt0](#): > > it’s better than the other solutions that offer e2ee Would you mind elaborating on that? It looks very similar to Joplin and standard notes. > [@ph00lt0](#): > > Still missing Notion every day haha. Same… database feature is too good. --- ## Post 17 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-01-08T21:44:37Z Sadly no longer a student :slight_smile: --- ## Post 18 by @deviancy — 2023-02-05T00:43:09Z Wondering if anyone has transitioned away from StandardNotes to Notesnook and how you think notesnook compares to SN in daily usage? --- ## Post 19 by @InternetGhost — 2023-02-05T01:15:32Z I haven’t used Standard Notes, only Notesnook. As I was looking for a notes app Notesnook seemed to offer way more for free than Standard Notes. I think you get formatting on your notes for free whereas you have to pay on Standard notes if you want more than plain text. I think. Also +1 on Notesnook. Polish of Google Keep, approaches the power of Obsidian, and all FOSS. --- ## Post 20 by @Mouse — 2023-02-05T01:35:27Z EDIT: I confused the hardware based 2FA with another app. [Notesnook | Open source & zero knowledge private note taking app](https://docs.notesnook.com/faqs/) Notesnook user here. I love this app and the security/privacy features are amazing. You can create an encrypted vault for particularly sensitive notes. They support software AND hardware-based (Yubikey) 2FA. The development is very active and the team behind it is very dedicated. For $5/mo., I’d say it’s worth it. Notesnook is fully FOSS. Evernote should be scared. --- ## Post 21 by @anon20402919 — 2023-02-05T02:11:10Z > They support software AND hardware-based (Yubikey) 2FA. I have 2FA with aegis on android, I only have the option to add sms or mail as another choice. Where do you see the U2F/fido2 option? --- ## Post 22 by @Mouse — 2023-02-05T14:41:16Z My mistake. I use the Yubico Authenticator app. Not FIDO. Another good resource is there FAQ: > **[Notesnook | Open source & zero knowledge private note taking app](https://notesnook.com/)** > > Express yourself with freedom, no spying, no tracking — only private notes. Unlike Evernote and other note apps, your data is private — not open for everyone to see. --- ## Post 23 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-02-05T22:12:37Z I did! So far it has been amazing. I mainly switched because of the UI and some more features. --- ## Post 24 by @deviancy — 2023-02-06T23:11:08Z Awesome! Anything in particular you like over SN? --- ## Post 25 by @TorLover9 — 2023-02-14T05:08:52Z text editing is sold, but isn’t it from Pakistan, which has zero data privacy protections --- ## Post 26 by @jonah — 2023-02-14T16:30:20Z > [@prodxpriv](#): > > Not the Back End (Will be in the future) > **[GitHub - streetwriters/notesnook-sync-server: Sync server for Notesnook (self-hosting in alpha)](https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook-sync-server)** > > Sync server for Notesnook (self-hosting in alpha) --- ## Post 27 by @thecodrr — 2023-02-15T05:35:23Z Notesnook Lead Developer here. I want to correct a few things which are either out-dated or simply wrong: 1. Notesnook is 100% open source. That includes [the backend (server)](https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook-sync-server) & [the frontend (clients)](https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook). It is also 100% FOSS as our license has been GPLv3 for the clients & AGPLv3 for the server. 2. Notesnook also has a web clipper now (even though that is not relevant to the “privacy” discussion). You can check it out on our website (can’t put more than 2 links). The web clipper is also fully open source. 3. Notesnook has not had an independent audit (yet) but there are plans for it. 4. Yes, Notesnook is based in Pakistan (our servers are located in Germany). Take that how you will. As for comparison against other note taking apps: Aside from features, I think the difference is our focus towards the user. We want to make privacy approachable without making the user feel as if they are using a sub-par tool. (That is not to say we are have accomplished this). This is one of the main reasons our development pace is so fast. We are pushing out releases every other week fixing bugs, improving UX etc. etc. Frankly speaking, I do not see that in other tools. Edit: added point no. 4. --- ## Post 28 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-02-17T13:09:33Z not sure how this is relevant at all. Your data is e2ee so there shouldn’t be any problem. --- ## Post 29 by @OyeMate — 2023-02-22T06:25:47Z Is Notesnook planning to support version history syncing on the server? Perhaps we could automatically save a version every time the user hits ‘save’. In my humble opinion, using a notes app without version history support is simply scary. Depending on the content of the notes, any accidental saves due to user error, app or browser bugs, or extension issues could lead to a lot of pain and frustration like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cryptee/comments/112hij6/critical_bug_resulting_in_irretrievable_data_loss/) --- ## Post 31 by @jonah — 2023-03-08T15:21:05Z This looks good to me, I think everything we were originally looking for has been completed. Going to mark this as approved (i.e. accepting PRs). --- ## Post 32 by @nidan — 2023-03-10T08:27:30Z Why did NotesNook get approved without an audit but you are being tough on Skiff for not having one? Maybe label the recommendations that have been audited and give a warning for those that haven’t? @dngray --- ## Post 33 by @dngray — 2023-03-10T16:16:02Z > [@nidan](#): > > Why did NotesNook get approved without an audit but you are being tough on Skiff for not having one? The category does not require an audit, but it does require the source code be available. No source code is available for anything but Skiff Mail, and even then it’s not exactly buildable. --- ## Post 34 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-04-23T14:21:21Z Welp removed my vote. Also this tool seems to think it’s okay to send unrequested newsletters with marketing. Even religious marketing in this case. I didn’t sign up for your newsletter so don’t spam me. --- ## Post 35 by @InternetGhost — 2023-04-23T22:53:47Z For context, I think this is in reference to the email they put out about Ramadan ending, which came with a discount for signing up for Notesnook. I don’t remember whether I signed up for marketing email when I signed up, but the religious aspect of the marketing doesn’t bother me. It’s like an Easter or Holiday discount, just from a different culture than mine. But the marketing email concern is something to confirm. ![image](//forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/2X/a/af1e3743b2b547df7a0a8bd389d8e63f8d7a7928.png) ![image](//forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/2X/0/037856213f257b4f06ebdeeaeaf1359309d6d77f.png) --- ## Post 36 by @canary2638 — 2023-04-24T00:50:22Z I don’t think it’s really fair to point out the religious aspect in this case. Plenty of tech companies do sales on what could be considered religious holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving (or Black Friday), and etc). Proton, for example, does sales around Christmas time and sends out related marketing emails. The real issue here is the lack of option to opt-out (based on search of my own Notesnook account setting) and that these emails are not opt-in by choice. IIRC, Proton toggles on these kinds of emails by default when you first create an account, and you have to opt out manually. So Notesnook is not doing anything particularly egregious here. But the lack of even an option to opt-out is a problem. EDIT: Technically, you can unsubscribe through the email received. But there should definitely be an opt-out option in the account setting for people that don’t want to these emails in the first place. --- ## Post 37 by @mika — 2023-04-24T01:53:50Z > [@InternetGhost](#): > > ![image](//forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/2X/a/af1e3743b2b547df7a0a8bd389d8e63f8d7a7928.png) > > ![image](//forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/2X/0/037856213f257b4f06ebdeeaeaf1359309d6d77f.png) Based on these screenshots I see absolutely nothing problematically religious - and I am not religious in the slightest. It’s no different than a Christmas sale or New Years message. Unsolicited marketing is a fair critique, however. --- ## Post 38 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-04-24T05:37:25Z Fair point. Although I think that those holidays like Christmas have for many lost the original meaning. Many don’t know what they are about anymore anyways. I never got a letter from a company telling me about that, but sure different culture. Still i take issue sith it. People should be free to believe what they want but don’t bother others with it. --- ## Post 39 by @jerm — 2023-04-24T12:01:50Z I find nothing wrong with it. You get black friday (proton did), Christmas and thanksgiving newsletters from most of the services. It’s is a sale after all. > People should be free to believe what they want but don’t bother others with it. With that mindset, wait till June. --- ## Post 40 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-04-24T14:51:11Z I did not get any email about this? Is it possible you have opted in to this? If not I agree it is wrong, but eonder why I do not get this then. --- ## Post 41 by @jerm — 2023-04-24T16:21:28Z When you sign up, you automatically subscribe to their newsletter, promotions etc. You can opt out by toggling off the options at [Proton](https://account.proton.me/u/0/mail/dashboard#email-subscription). --- ## Post 42 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-04-24T16:26:43Z Can confirm, created new account just to test this and you are rright indeed. Still doesn’t change my opinion this is really stupid and not a legimate interressed. I didn’t come across this because it is not the case for business accounts. Which makes somewhat sense. --- ## Post 43 by @jonah — 2023-04-24T20:38:57Z Remember Notesnook doesn’t require an account… I also haven’t received any emails from them. --- ## Post 44 by @Regime6045 — 2023-05-11T12:53:39Z I recently switched from Standard Notes to Notesnook and I have to say it is the better product, at least in the free version. Rich Text formatting is the most obvious reason to go with Notesnook. Looking forward to seeing it on the PG website. --- ## Post 45 by @thecodrr — 2023-05-23T02:42:47Z @jonah Can I open a PR for inclusion of Notesnook since no one else seems to be working on it? --- ## Post 46 by @TorLover9 — 2023-05-23T16:56:05Z Weird that some categories would require and audit and some won’t… how does that make any sense? A warning should certainly be added. It’s much more dangerous to have people writing unreviewed crypto… --- ## Post 48 by @thecodrr — 2023-05-30T05:42:33Z I have opened a PR for the inclusion of Notesnook: [Add Notesnook by thecodrr · Pull Request #2176 · privacyguides/privacyguides.org · GitHub](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/pull/2176) --- ## Post 49 by @dngray — 2023-05-30T20:16:21Z > [@TorLover9](#): > > Weird that some categories would require and audit and some won’t… how does that make any sense? The reason is because if we required an audit for some categories, we’d literally have no recommendations, because nobody has one. It is becoming less of an issue though, so that’s a good thing. --- ## Post 50 by @jonah — 2023-05-31T02:03:51Z > > > Changes proposed in this PR: > > - Add Notesnook to Notebooks as [per the approve…d discussion](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/notesnook-evernote-alternative/174/47) > > Conflict of interest: > > I am the lead developer of Notesnook. Please review the suggested changes carefully and let me know if there is something that needs to be changed. > > > > > - [x] I have disclosed any relevant conflicts of interest in my post. > - [x] I agree to grant Privacy Guides a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, irrevocable license with the right to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicensees, to reproduce, modify, display, perform, relicense, and distribute my contribution as part of this project. > - [x] I am the sole author of this work. > - [x] I agree to the [Community Code of Conduct](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/code_of_conduct/). --- ## Post 51 by @Niek-de-Wilde — 2023-06-21T18:31:55Z @thecodrr you got added today :slight_smile: [Notebooks - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/notebooks/#notesnook) --- ## Post 52 by @TheVigilante — 2023-06-28T03:45:31Z Note that if you publish a Notesnook note (aka [Monograph](https://monograph.notesnook.com/)) , it will be **not** be end-to-end encrypted by default unless you manually set a password. This is because Notesnook’s Monograph links do not have any encryption secret that is used to decrypt notes on the recipients’ sides to be included in the share URL behind the `#` (hash) as the browser will not send anything after the # remotely to the server This kind of “key in the link” feature is however present in many Privacy Guides recommend products that have secure link sharing: [Proton Drive](https://proton.me/blog/protondrive-security), [Send/FFSend](https://github.com/timvisee/ffsend#security), or [Bitwarden’s Send](https://bitwarden.com/help/send-encryption/) Not sure why you guys are rushing putting a product in recommendation without reviewing all the features. Below is a screenshot in Notesnook Discord: ![img1](//forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/2X/4/4be7a63bbf4adf72ffbc3bdfea1f71b91a68ea7b.png) --- ## Post 53 by @ph00lt0 — 2023-07-06T16:20:08Z ooh actually did not know that, but would be cool if they add support for this indeed. I assumed it was already this way. Bad assumption, tx for heads up. --- ## Post 54 by @Naruto — 2023-07-08T08:30:05Z Is company being registered in privacy and security invasive nation has any impact when the tool is offering E2E? --- ## Post 55 by @jonah — 2023-07-28T02:47:40Z > **[Recommend Notesnook (#2176) · privacyguides/privacyguides.org@d8c8a63](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/commit/d8c8a631eed4eb00e098732d13557ed9c64c816f)** > > Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray > Signed-off-by: mfwmyfacewhen <94880365+mfwmyfacewhen@users.noreply.github.com>