Alternatives to Standard Notes
E2E encrypted plain notes with paid markdown editors
Standard Notes ranks #5 of 13 in Note-taking, with an Alt Score of 78. It is licensed under AGPL-3.0, freemium from $90/year and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Web. 9 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
People who want a permanent, private place to keep notes over decades — privacy-conscious writers, journalers, and anyone wary of vendor lock-in or a note app disappearing or getting acquired and changing terms.
End-to-end encryption (XChaCha20-Poly1305, Argon2id) means Standard Notes itself can't read your notes. Notes are stored as plain text/Markdown, apps are open source and independently audited, and you can self-host your own sync server via Docker. Extensions add custom editors, themes, and actions on top of a deliberately simple, long-lived core.
You write notes in a plain-text or Markdown editor, organize them with tags, and they sync automatically, encrypted, across desktop, mobile, and web apps. Notes stay accessible offline and can be restored from version history if something goes wrong.
Where Standard Notes stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Standard Notes
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
How Standard Notes compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| Note-taking checklist | Standard Notes | Amplenote | Joplin | Evernote | UpNote | Notesnook |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
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| Markdown support | ||||||
| Sync between devices (native) | ||||||
| Local-first storage | ||||||
| End-to-end encryption | ||||||
| Web clipper | ||||||
| Templates | ||||||
| Tags & notebooks | ||||||
| Handwriting & stylus | ||||||
| OCR of images | ||||||
| Version history | ||||||
| Data export formats | ||||||
| Offline access |
Every fact and feature listed for Standard Notes is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License AGPL-3.0 verified 2026-07-11
GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
https://github.com/standardnotes/app/blob/main/LICENSE -
Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-11
Choose from Productivity, which unlocks the full Standard Notes editing experience, or Professional, which offers 100GB of encrypted file storage, maximum note history, and family subscription sharing
https://standardnotes.com/plans -
Starts at $90/year verified 2026-07-11
$<!-- -->90<!-- -->/<!-- -->year
https://standardnotes.com/plans -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web verified 2026-07-11
Windows
https://standardnotes.com/features -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
Standard Notes is an end-to-end encrypted note-taking app for digitalists and professionals.
https://github.com/standardnotes/app -
Markdown support Yes verified 2026-07-11
You can use Markdown in your notes via the many available Markdown editor extensions.
https://standardnotes.com/help/18/how-do-i-use-markdown-in-my-notes -
Sync between devices (native) Yes verified 2026-07-11
Unlimited device sync on web, desktop, and mobile
https://standardnotes.com/plans -
Local-first storage Yes verified 2026-07-11
Any notes which have been previously synced to the device will be accessible without a connection.
https://standardnotes.com/help/59/can-i-use-standard-notes-totally-offline -
End-to-end encryption Yes verified 2026-07-11
The Standard Notes Protocol describes a set of procedures that ensure client-side encryption of data in such a way that makes it impossible for the server, which houses the data, to read or decrypt th
https://standardnotes.com/help/security/encryption -
Web clipper Yes verified 2026-07-11
The Standard Notes Web Clipper is a browser extension that allows you to clip web pages and articles to your Standard Notes account.
https://standardnotes.com/help/usage/how-do-i-clip-web-pages -
Tags & notebooks Yes verified 2026-07-11
Create nested folders from your tags with easy drag and drop.
https://standardnotes.com/features -
Version history Yes verified 2026-07-11
1-year note revision history
https://standardnotes.com/plans -
Data export formats Yes verified 2026-07-11
there is a decrypted backup file that may be restored to Standard Notes, as well as a folder containing each of your notes in individual plain text files.
https://standardnotes.com/help/14/how-do-i-create-and-import-backups-of-my-standard-notes-data -
Offline access Yes verified 2026-07-11
Standard Notes can be used totally offline without an account, and without an internet connection.
https://standardnotes.com/help/59/can-i-use-standard-notes-totally-offline
FAQ
Yes. Amplenote, Joplin and Evernote have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Joplin, Notesnook and Simplenote — every license claim links its source.