As a technical writer, I’m constantly testing out new writing and note-taking tools, and whenever I do, I’m usually looking for the “holy grail” of the space. With note-taking apps, I’ve tried more than I’m willing to admit. Some, like Obsidian, Notion, and even OneNote, have been solid.

However, no matter which tool I try, I always come back to Joplin. For regular, everyday work, it’s polished, easy-to-use, cross-platform, and offers freedom from lock-ins. It is the true king of the demonetization space.

It earns its place slowly—and that’s exactly the point.

The design sometimes hints at quality, and the Joplin doesn’t look great, especially if you’re used to Concept or Obsidian. So I understand how this first experience can lead one to a conclusion.

However, Joplin’s seemingly simple design feels deliberate. You get a three-panel layout: notebook, notes, and an editor, and it stays the same across macOS, Windows, and Linux. Apart from the interface, you also get a consistent set of keyboard shortcuts, with mobile apps following the same structure as desktop apps.

This is a deliberate consistency that is preferred over providing a stripped-down alternative on some platforms. This allows you to have the same experience regardless of device.

Consistency is Joplin’s form of polish, and it’s harder to achieve than a beautiful but inconsistent onboarding screen. The first time I went from laptop to phone mid-project there was no need to reset myself. The consistency of the app is the kind that many other tools don’t attempt.

OS

Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, FreeBSD, Terminal

The developer

Laurent Kozic (and community)

Pricing model

Free (open source); Paid subscription to cloud storage

Joplin is a cross-platform, privacy-focused note-taking and task management app. It supports rich features like Markdown notes, notebooks and tags, end-to-end encryption, a web clipper, self-hosted sync (via WebDAV/Nextcloud/Dropbox) or managed cloud sync with Joplin Cloud. It works offline, allows importing from Evernote, supports plugins and themes, and gives you full control over your data.

Your notes are safer here than anywhere else.

Proprietary and encryption—and what each actually means in practice.

When you use most note-taking apps, you put a lot of trust in the company and its promises. You trust exports work when you need them, you trust that the company will stay online, and more critically, you trust that data is handled responsibly. Joplin, on the other hand, minimizes the amount of trust required from the provider.

Your notes are stored in Markdown in a database that is stored on your device. They never depend on whether Joplin’s servers are available. It has a clean export process that renders your files in Markdown, readable and editable in any text editor. You are not stuck in a particular ecosystem. This is an important distinction from some other tools that work with proprietary formats that only specific apps can decode.

It is useful to compare Joplin with Obsidian, as both tools are large in data ownership. In fact, Obsidian has an edge with a slightly more direct approach that involves saving notes to disk as .md files. But I’m still leaning toward Joplin because end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is part of the free package, a feature that would cost me at least $4 per month in Obsidian.

Joplin protects against a threat model that is relevant to most people by offering E2EE in transit and on the sync server. However, you don’t get encryption for local databases on your device, which is also true for almost every other Note app in this category. Here’s a comparison of some popular note apps in this category:

Joplin has an optional sync service called Joplin Cloud that costs around €2.40/month. However, this is only an optional service that lets you pay for the convenience rather than the gatekeeping features that should be free.

Related

I started using Obsidian as a complete beginner and now I understand why people switch and never go back.

It can be as simple, or as complex as you want to make it.

Depth only appears when you need it.

What I discovered after a year that wasn’t obvious on day one.

I was pleasantly surprised when I tried to automatically transfer a batch of notes in Joplin. I used its native REST API to pipe web content directly into the notebook. I didn’t even have to touch Joplin’s interface, and the twenty minute setup time was well worth it. It has saved me many hours since then. For tools that can make HTTP requests, Joplin’s REST API allows you to create, search, and edit notes.

Also, if you work primarily in Terminal, you’ll benefit from its command-line client. But one factor that brings Joplin to life is its plugin ecosystem. It’s not as robust as many alternatives, but it’s manageable in a way that makes it easy to find the right tools to add the functionality you need. I use Jarvis plugin Very similar to my local Ulama instance, I am able to summarize, auto-tag and perform semantic searches.

Most of the plugins I use with Joplin today weren’t part of my workflow from day one. But it has consistently provided tools that remove friction and add fluidity to note-taking at the points when I actually need them.

So why doesn’t everyone use Joplin?

Joplin does not prioritize aesthetics. Although it has a functional interface, it will never match the visual beauty of tools like Notion. So if visual stimulation is a huge factor in the way you write, Joplin won’t work for you.

It also has other gaps. A case in point is the lack of a local two-way linking system. This is where Obsidian hits it, making a Zettelkasten for someone specifically. However, these flaws create an appearance that Joplin isn’t trying to be. This is not a collaborative workspace, nor is it a knowledge graph tool. It takes getting noticed seriously: it’s cross-platform on a level matched by few alternatives, focused on privacy, and free at its core.

Joplin tries to make you invest in the notes rather than the platform, and that’s why even when I’ve tried several beautiful options, I still come back to Joplin.