Documents and notes
Evernote alternatives
2 open-source projects that already do this job. Free to use - not free to run, which is what the numbers on the right are for.
The projects
laurent22/joplin★55,850 GitHub starslicence unclearCross-platform, privacy-focused note app with rich editor, attachments, and sync clients for desktop and mobile.Open on GitHub ↗TriliumNext/Trilium★37,288 GitHub starsAGPL-3.0 licenceFeature-rich personal knowledge base with hierarchical notes, attachments, full-text search, and syncing capabilities.Open on GitHub ↗
What you give up either way
- Enterprise admin, SSO, and detailed user activity logs
- Official Web Clipper browser extensions and deep browser integration
- Built-in AI Meeting Notes (recording/transcription) and AI Diagrams
- Offline-first native apps and polished multi-platform installers
- PDF editor/converter and advanced document scanning features
An open-source project doing the core job proves a replacement is possible. It does not prove it matches Evernote, and it does not prove anyone has run it for a month. How we decide.