In 1993, only 693 websites existed on the Internet while in ’99, only 23 blogs existed on our dear old friend. In 2006, that number jumped to having over 50 million websites on the Internet. Today, we have over one billion websites on the Internet. We’re no longer swimming in options, we’re drowning in them.
How, then, do we choose the best tools for our productivity, when there are so many options to choose from? It’s like being trapped in the candy store of life! Today, I’ll be taking you through a list of the best note-taking apps for Linux in 2021.
1. Clipto
Clipto is a highly-advanced and lightweight note-taking application and clipboard manager for Linux.
Key Features
- Organization of notes using tags.
- Rich-text achieved in markdown.
- Attachments up to 200MB of files.
- (Ultra-fast) Synchronization.
- Sync. achieved by logging in with either an e-mail, your Google or Facebook account, or a phone number.
- Clipboard manager that syncs across other devices.
- Theming: Choose from a wide range of themes including Amoled Black, White, Default, Pink, Green, Sepia, Blurple, and more!
- Smart-Preview URL’s in notes (auto-generated bookmark preview format).
- Share notes via URL: You can set note password, auto-expiry, and more.
Clipto is Available For
- Windows
- Mac
- Linux
- Android
- Web.
Clipto Pricing (as of 2021)
- Clipto is free for offline use.
- Sync. +400 Notes = $3.99 per year.
- Sync. +500 Notes = $5.49 per year.
- Sync. +1,000 Notes = 6.99 per year.
- Sync. +2,000 Notes = $0.99 per month.
- Sync. +3,000 Notes = $1.49 per month.
- Pricing is subject to change and is customizable if you reach out to support.
2. Joplin
Joplin is a totally free and open-source alternative to Evernote. It features:
- A web clipper to save articles, images, webpages, and more.
- Organization of contents using folders and tags (nesting available).
- Synchronization using OneDrive, Dropbox, NextCloud, and WebDAV.
- Attachments (storage depends on your sync. platform of choice).
- Rich-text achieved by Markdown or by using WYSIWYG formatting toolbar.
- End-to-End Encryption.
- Create Task/Todo lists.
- Import Evernote files/data.
- Offline/Privacy-focused by default.
- External-editor support: this means you can use any text editor for editing of Joplin notes and changes are made in realtime!
- Note version history.
Joplin is Available For
3. Boost Note
Boost Note is an advanced, aesthetically pleasing note-taking and productivity application for Linux.
- Rich-text achieved by Markdown.
- Cloud Sync.
- Folders & Tags for organization of data.
- LaTeX support.
- Offline by default, for privacy.
- Eye-candy: lots of themes to choose from!
Boost Note is Available For
Boost Note Pricing
- Free for local usage.
- Sync. 100MB / Free.
- Sync. 2GB / $3 per Month. (After quota limit reach, it costs $5 for every 5GB).
The Road So Far: Comparisons of Note Taking Apps for Linux
Clipto, Boost Note, or Joplin? After using each of them throughout the years, I would go with Clipto because it’s one of the fastest, most effective apps I have used. It’s similar to Google Keep, but powered up. Its functions are similar to what Joplin achieves, but in a more modern fashion. It uses Cloud Firestore, so your data syncs. as fast as you would essentially get an SMS. Also, you don’t need to worry about data caps because there’s no theoretical limit. You pay for what you use.
Boost Note seems to be better for programmers, as its primary objective to be an aesthetically pleasing local markdown editor. It achieves satisfaction for basic note-takers, but isn’t good if you want to store videos, audio notes, docs, and more. Think of Boost Note as your advanced text editor.
Joplin and Clipto both achieve similar functions, but Joplin has a WYSIWYG editor and is meant to be an Evernote alternative. Clipto achieves what Joplin and Google Keep do, but you can’t choose your own sync. provider. In such case, it’s faster because cloud storage providers don’t provide instant sync. in the same way Firestore does. Clipto, however, does provide instant sync., since it’s also a universal clipboard manager.
4. Standard Notes
Standard Notes is your privacy-focused end-to-end encrypted note-taking application. It features:
- Tagging to organize your contents.
- A Markdown editor to achieve rich-text.
- Synchronization to sync. contents across all of your devices.
- Plugins: 100s of plugins to choose from so you can: install
- differently-styled rich-text or Markdown editors.
- FileSafe (attach any file you wish in a secured manner: images, video, audio, etc.).
- Code Editor.
- Advanced Task/todo editors.
- Themes like Solarized Dark, Midnight, Light, Dark, etc.
- Folder support.
- Standard Notes blogs: Create a blog using your notes. Anonymous name, private or visible (your choice) blog.
Standard Notes Pricing
- Free: Plain-Text with Sync.
- 5-Year Plan: $149 – All features.
- Yearly: $50 – All features.
- Monthly: $9.99 – All features.
5. Simplenote
Simplenote is a completely free and private note-taking application that supports Markdown and cloud syncing. You can log in with WordPress or an e-mail account. You are able to organize your contents using tags and share your notes via URL.
Simplenote is Available For
6. Skrifa
Skrifa, being built on web technologies, is one of the most unique note-taking application I have ever used, especially in terms of design.
- It supports Notebooks for content organization.
- Note/database encryption.
- Login by creating a random username.
- You can edit HTML and embed other contents into a note (namely, YouTube videos).
- One-shot export that exports all notes and notebooks in a simple step. Re-import on another Linux device once you’re logged in.
- Card-Style Design for your notes.
- MathJax support.
- Code Highlighting.
- Multimedia support.
Skrifa Is Available For
Skrifa Pricing
Skrifa is completely free and does not come with any synchronization features.
The Conclusion on Note Taking Apps for Linux
At the end of the day, each of these apps satisfies a different type of note-taker.
- Skrifa is great for offline usage. You’re able to backup and export your databases, but it’s not great for modern usage in the sense of on-the-go access (in terms of mobile devices).
- Clipto is the fastest and most reliable of all the options, but is purely Markdown in language.
- Simplenote is great for note-taking in Markdown and syncing but does not support attachments.
- Boost Note is an advanced, local-first markdown editor with cloud support. It’s meant mostly for programmers, but achieves what the rest do, minus attachments (images are supported).
- Joplin achieves what Clipto does, and allows you to choose a sync. platform of your choice.
- Standard Notes achieve all of the above (except for clipboard management), but in an encrypted, privacy-focused way.
Happy note-taking, folks!
4 thoughts on “6 Best Note-Taking Apps for Linux”
Hi Gavin,
Thanks for featuring Standard Notes in your list!
I just wanted to add that each user can install extensions provided by the community via the desktop and web apps. 🙂
Here’s an awesome list that contains themes, editors, extensions, and other useful tools that the Standard Notes community has provided. https://github.com/jonhadfield/awesome-standard-notes
We’re also grateful to our users who support our work by subscribing to Extended.
– Jaspal (tech support member of Standard Notes)
*grateful for
QOwnNotes is by far the best note taking app I’ve found. It uses Markdown as it’s markup, and it’s fully open source and supports cross device sync via NextCloud.
I’ve tried multiple apps for the last 3 years and am happy that I’ve finally stuck with Obsidian (https://obsidian.md) and I highly recommend it.
It can be synced with your phone by using Dropbox.
For those who also have a habit of using text files (I have a habit of launching SublimeText and writing things in there), I use either Obsidian or Sublime to edit the same Markdown files, and use Obsidian exclusively on mobile.
Hope this helps anyone that has similar habits.