alternatives to
Microsoft's note-taking app with notebooks of free-form pages, synced through OneDrive. A closed product from Microsoft.
| Tool | Fit | Stars | Licence | Terms | Self-hosted | Language | Latest | Last push |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin | Full replacement | 57k | Other | Open core | No | TypeScript | v3.7.21 | 2026-10-06 |
| AFFiNE | Partial | 73k | Other | Open core | Yes | TypeScript | v0.27.4 | 2026-10-04 |
| Trilium Notes | Partial | 38k | AGPL-3.0 | Open source | No | TypeScript | v0.106.0 | 2026-10-06 |
| Xournal++ | Partial | 15k | GPL-2.0 | Open source | No | C++ | v1.3.8 | 2026-10-04 |
| Rnote | Partial | 12k | GPL-3.0 | Open source | No | Rust | v0.14.2 | 2026-10-05 |
| CherryTree | Partial | 4k | Other | Open source | No | C++ | v1.7.2 | 2026-09-19 |
| Zim | Partial | 2.2k | GPL-2.0 | Open source | No | Python | 0.77.2 | 2026-10-05 |
7 alternatives
Joplin - the privacy-focused note taking app with sync capabilities for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
Notebooks of Markdown notes rather than free-form pages, with sync through several back ends and a OneNote importer.
There can be more than Notion and Miro. AFFiNE(pronounced [ə‘fain]) is a next-gen knowledge base that brings planning, sorting and creating all together. Privacy first, open-source, customizable and ready to use.
Pages that switch between a document and a free-form edgeless canvas, local-first or synced.
Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes
A hierarchy of rich-text notes synced through a server you host, without OneNote's free-form pages or handwriting.
Xournal++ is a handwriting notetaking software with PDF annotation support. Written in C++ with GTK3, supporting Linux (e.g. Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, SUSE), macOS and Windows 10. Supports pen input from devices such as Wacom Tablets.
Handwritten notes and PDF annotation with a pen on the desktop, without sync or typed notebooks.
Sketch and take handwritten notes.
Handwriting and drawing on an infinite canvas, not typed notebooks.
cherrytree
Hierarchical notes with rich text and code nodes, stored in one local file, without sync.
Main repository of the zim desktop wiki project
Desktop wiki of linked pages stored as text files, without sync.