Alternatives to
9 Best Joplin Alternatives in 2026
The best Joplin alternatives depend on whether you prioritize cost, control, or a different workflow.
- Reviewed
- Sep 2026
- Open source
- 4
- Self-hosted
- 2
What you are leaving
Joplin at a glance
- Pricing model
- App is free and open source; Joplin Cloud Basic EUR 2.99/mo or EUR 28.69/yr; Pro EUR 5.99/mo or EUR 57.48/yr
- Deployment
- Desktop, mobile and self-hosted sync
- Open source
- Yes
- Self-host
- Yes
- Free tier
- Yes, the app is free with your own sync target
- Category
- Notes
- End-to-end encryption
- Yes, for synced notes
- Web clipper
- Yes, a strength
- Sync
- Bring your own storage, or use Joplin Cloud
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android
Compare at a glance
Joplin alternatives compared
Short facts side by side. Filter by what matters to your team, then open any row for the full decision brief.
| # | Product | Overlap | Substitutability | Free? | Starting price | Self-host | Open source | Migration | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Obsidian | Markdown note-taking and knowledge storage | Mostly replaces | Yes | — | No | No | Easy | |
| 02 | Standard Notes | Encrypted note-taking and syncing | Mostly replaces | Yes | $90/year | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 03 | Notesnook | Encrypted note-taking and syncing | Mostly replaces | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 04 | Logseq | Note-taking and knowledge storage | Partial replacement | Yes | — | No | Yes | Moderate | |
| 05 | Evernote | Note-taking and web clipping | Partial replacement | Yes | — | No | No | Moderate | |
| 06 | Notion | Note-taking and knowledge storage | Partial replacement | Yes | — | No | No | Moderate | |
| 07 | Simplenote | Simple note-taking and syncing | Narrow overlap | Yes | — | No | Yes | Easy | |
| 08 | Microsoft OneNote | Note-taking and notebook organisation | Partial replacement | Yes | — | No | No | Moderate | |
| 09 | Bear | Note-taking and writing | Partial replacement | Yes | $2.99/month | No | No | Easy |
Community signal
What switchers report
0 reports · moderated after submissionNo reports yet. Record the first switch to help other people decide.
Frequently asked
Joplin alternatives FAQ
- Is Joplin free?
- Yes. Joplin is free and open source, and you can use it without paying anything if you provide your own sync target such as a self-hosted Joplin Server, Dropbox, OneDrive or a WebDAV server. Joplin Cloud is an optional paid service that adds managed sync, note publishing, collaboration and priority support.
- How much does Joplin cost?
- The Joplin app is free and open source. Joplin Cloud Basic is €2.99 per month, or €2.40 per month billed yearly at €28.69 per year, with 10 MB per note or attachment and 2 GB of storage. Joplin Cloud Pro is €5.99 per month, or €4.79 per month billed yearly at €57.48 per year, with 200 MB per note and 30 GB of storage. Prices are in euros.
- What is the best Joplin alternative?
- Obsidian is the closest alternative if you want local Markdown files with a large plugin ecosystem. Standard Notes and Notesnook are the best choices if end-to-end encryption is the priority, and both can be self-hosted. Logseq is the strongest option for outliner-style note-taking. Evernote is the better choice if you need web clipping and OCR search across attachments.
- Does Joplin have end-to-end encryption?
- Yes. Joplin supports end-to-end encryption for synced notes, which you enable in the settings. The app is open source, so you can verify how encryption is implemented. This is one of the main reasons people choose Joplin over Evernote or Notion, neither of which offers end-to-end encryption for note content.
- What should I check before switching away from Joplin?
- Check whether you rely on the web clipper, since Joplin's clipper is one of its strengths and not every alternative has an equivalent. If you use Joplin Cloud for publishing or collaboration, confirm the replacement covers those workflows. Export your notes first, as Joplin exports to JEX, Markdown and HTML but attachments and notebook structure may not transfer cleanly. Finally, test sync reliability with your own storage target before committing.
Switcher Reports
Tell us how your switch went.
Record the alternative you chose, why you switched, whether you still use it, and what new users should know.
Editorial method
Evidence before opinion.
We compare public product information and cite the sources used for each verified fact.