Documents and notes decision
Supernotes
A capable developer can reimplement a useful subset (cards, tagging, search, export, share links) in a few months, but reproducing Supernotes' full product (native apps, offline-first sync, realtime collaboration, AI, and the polished cross-device UX) is significantly more work and operational overhead—so keep paying for the full experience unless you only need the core note workflow.
Visit website↗Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Supernotes alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Create, tag, link and search short 'notecards', export to Markdown/PDF, and share cards via public links.
What it still won’t have
- Mobile & native desktop apps (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux) bundled and maintained
- Fully offline-first sync with automatic conflict merge across devices
- Realtime collaborative editing and presence
- AI features (proofreading, auto-organisation) unless you add paid model APIs
- Priority support and the vendor's uptime/hosting SLA (99.999% claim)
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 2 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a web-first notecard note-taking app using React (TypeScript) frontend, Node.js (Express) backend, PostgreSQL for storage, and Redis for full-text indexing/queueing. Implement: (1) a Markdown notecard editor with 1200-char soft limit, attachments (images/math rendering), and bi-directional link support; (2) REST API and DB schema for cards, tags, multi-parent nesting, and shareable links with permissions; (3) full-text search (Postgres tsvector or Elasticsearch) and filters by tag/color; (4) export endpoints for single-card PDF/Markdown and bulk JSON/Markdown export; (5) background jobs for thumbnail generation and export; (6) tests for API endpoints and editor input validation, and robust error handling and input sanitization. Out of scope: native mobile/desktop apps, realtime collaborative editing, offline-first sync merging, built-in AI features, and priority support. Include CI, deployment scripts (Docker + Kubernetes or managed container service), monitoring (uptime alerts), and automated backups.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 5 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- Evidence score63
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 5
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productSupernotes — product
- official pricingSupernotes — pricing
- official docsSupernotes — features
- open sourceAppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy
- open sourceTriliumNext/Trilium
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
