Currently I’m using Joplin with Syncthing-backed file system synchronization. I’m pretty pleased with it, as I do like tagging- and Markdown-based systems.
I plan to upgrade to server-based synchronization, but before doing that, however, I wanted to see what other people are using.
Edit: So far I see a slight favor towards Joplin and Logseq, but I totally didn’t expect (and appreciate) getting so many different answers.
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https://notion.so It’s a web-based editor with a good android app. Has basic formatting, plugins/integrations, and dark mode. It’s free for individual use cases. Has some nice paid features for collaboration and business use cases, though the free plan still allows sharing and concurrent editing.
E: noticed this is in self hosted after posting. Maybe not what you’re looking for, but it’s a good service if you’re ok with that.
My only problem with them is the android app, while it has nice features it’s soo slow that even on flagship phones it is hard to use, and when you have multiple accounts switching between them is awful, either the files won’t load or it won’t refresh the interface at all. I usually switch the workspace and then restart the app. Sometimes I can’t open the subfiles of a file until I restart the app and wait for it to load.
I think the reason for that is touch screen, it is only good for social media. I use Google Keep on Android because it is fast and later copy the notes to Notion.
Idk, from what I heard the iOS version of the app is really performant and optimized.
Wish there was a self-hosted version of notion with all the same features
The closest is nextcloud collectives, tables, tasks and deck
Trilium. Tried a bunch but fell in love with this one. Others either didn’t have support for inline math or weren’t wysiwyg (Joplin). Also easy syncing between computers with its own server in docker, and it even doubles as a web version of the app.
I used to use Joplin, I liked that it integrated with my Nextcloud, and the markdown format. However, the way that it handles the markdown files was too black-boxey to me, with the way it split them up in a weird scheme.
Now I use Ghostwriter with straight markdown files inside my Nextcloud folder. So I still get the syncing functionality, but a more flexible setup that doesn’t require a specific app to access all of my notes.
That’s and the awful android app is what made me give up on Joplin.
I didn’t mention it, but that’s actually my one (small) gripe with Joplin. It would be neat if I could access my notes with any markdown editor without having to open it through Joplin. That said, I don’t know how I would’ve handled the file structure differently while keeping features like the history alive.
Joplin as well, syching my 3 devices with the WebDAV option. I checked a few other options about a year ago and Joplin seemed the best.
Joplin is where I landed, as well as hosting my own Joplin Server.
If Obsidian allowed a free self hosted option, I would have picked it over Joplin. (Yes, I tried the free plugin, but it at times wouldn’t sync correctly and I would end up losing notes.)
Obsidian is where I landed after trying several.
Just tried it for a bit. Looks pretty sleek and has some nice features, but it seems like it’s not open-source, which is something I’d like to avoid.
I am not trying to defend Obsidian here in regards to its closed source but in the least the notes are not obscured in some database and use markdown format. So once they go away from that, I am out and still have all my notes accessible.
Then Logseq. It’s an outliner (each line can be it’s own…thing…), but it’s open source and a direct competitor of Obsidian. In fact, I was ambivalent between the two when I first started with online note-taking.
That looks very interesting, mostly because it’s so different. I’ll have to take a closer look later.
Does it store files in plain text?
I think, like Obsidian, it stores them as markdown files.
👍👍
I’ve been running the Joplin server for over a year with clients on four laptops and three phones and share notes with my wife and its wonderful. There are certainly quirks and sometimes sync issues but by and large I’m really happy with it. There seems to be one cluster of notes I have that always irritates a fresh client sync and it shows up at 50 conflicts but I work through it. Also my notebooks are huge and the first sync can take an hour. It’s a lot slower than I’d expect.
I’ve been running Joplin server for about two years now, and I concur. It’s been great.
Siyuan. Ive been using it for a while now and find it very effective for my needs. Its gone through quite a few updates since i started using it and became open source in that time. It even has an android version as well which i do have installed on my phone but admittingly rarely use. I prefer writing information on a keyboard generally.
neovim + git with gitea/forgejo
OneNote. Don’t love being super reliant on all the Microsoft Office cloud stuff but there really isn’t anything that comes close to what I use it for
What do you use it for? If you don’t mind me asking. I tried a few times to like it before I started my selfhost/open source journey earlier this year and couldn’t click with it. But curious what it does that you haven’t found an alternative for.
removed by mod
Not the same person but a couple of the reasons I can’t get away from it are:
-ability to “print” a pdf in to it and directly markup the pages without having to open the actual file in another application (it also runs OCR on the pages so they remain searchable)
-you can also “print” PowerPoint presentations in a similar way
-it handles inking with a pen super well
I have lots of academic papers and presentations that I routinely reference for my job so these are killer features for me
Yep, those are features I wouldn’t use. Sounds like the ideal situation, thanks for sharing!
I use it for a mix of text, handwriting/drawing, PDF annotation and image annotation, and I also pretty heavily rely on realtime sync between my devices. If none of that is stuff you use then I can see why you might want something simpler
Yeah, handwriting can be added to Obsidian, but it’s a bit hacky and I don’t use it. As far as instant sync, it is solid, but expensive. Some folks use Syncthing but I couldn’t get it to work reliably so I but the bullet and paid for Obsidian Sync.
Yeah, I know this is the self hosted community, but nothing is as easy and straightforward as OneNote. I keep coming back to it after trying self hosted solutions.
VSCodium on the desktop, and Markor on Android. I write everything in markdown, and VSCodium is already where I spend half my time editing and writing code, so it was an easy choice. I also use Vim for quick one-offs, especially if I’m already working on a project with it.
Like others here, I also use Syncthing to keep my notes synced between home server, remote clients, and mobile devices.
Emacs+org-mode
Markor + synvthing
Joplin uses it’s own database so interoperability is not perfect. Markor is so effing cool. That’s on Android. On the laptop I use want ever is best suited for the task. Most often, a vim variant of notepad++
Unsaved n++ tabs
This is the way
It automatically restoring all those unsaved notes has made me so lazy.
There’s dozens of us
Tabs right?
New33
I do that for some random notes, but I prefer app like Obsidian for managing notes/todo lists for some stuff like projects, etc.
Logseq but I know the sync is tricky
It’s been a piece of cake syncing with Syncthing
