Selfhosted alternative to google keep/onenote/evernote/goodnotes?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨meneervana@lemm.ee⁩ to ⁨selfhosted@lemmy.world⁩

I’m completely new to selfhosting but see a lot of potential. I wonder if anyone knows a good way to self host a notetaking app? The point is that I need to access my notes on multiple devices so self hosting them could be a nice idea. I currently use google keep and goodnotes but would like to leave those behind…

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Mora@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’ve used Joplin before which was okay-ish (but worked the e2e encryption during an update).

Now I would recommend Silverbullet if you are really keen on self hosting a notes app.

But the notes that work best for me is simply Obsidian + Syncthing (you could self host a syncthing server), thanks to its sheer ability to adapt to nearly any use case thanks to its plugin.

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- perishthethought@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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  - Mora@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    But Syncthing Fork is not shut down and is still maintained (never used the main version tbh).
    
    f-droid.org/…/com.github.catfriend1.syncthingandr…
    
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- twinnie@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  What was wrong with Joplin? I was thinking about giving it a try.
  
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  - paradox2011@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Not the OP, but I believe they’re talking about the upgrade from 128 bit AES to 256 bit AES. It created some compatibility issues between clients for a few days as the ones that weren’t updated yet couldn’t decryot the newer 256 AES encrypted notes. That was my experience anyways. It’s a great app/server from my personal experience.
    
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  - christov@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I also tried Joplin and while it’s great while using it, there’s no background sync and never will be. That’s a huge pain when you’re mobile and need to get at your notes but have little or no signal.
    
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mojolobo@lemmy.jrvs.cc ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
After trying a bunch, I’m using Obsidian + <your choice of sync plugin> now. Good thing with Obsidian is your notes are ultimately a bunch of plaintext files, so you can do whatever you want with them, and it comes with clients for most platforms.

Another option is Trilium, it is pretty powerful, and has a webapp so as long as you can access a browser, you’ll be able to access your notes. github.com/zadam/trilium

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- Artaca@lemdro.id ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Been using Logseq since February and it’s been a game changer. My only gripes are a) inability to access via browsers, and b) lack of a quick note function. Sometimes I still use Keep to jot something down and transfer later. Logseq spends a solid 5+ seconds syncing upon opening, which can feel like an eternity when trying to quickly log something.
  
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  - sudneo@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    For browser, there is a webapp that can be selfhosted. See here github.com/logseq/…/docker-web-app-guide.md
    
    I think you need chromium browsers due to the API they use, but it should work.
    
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- homegrowntechie@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  +1 for the open source option: Trilium
  
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perishthethought@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I use Memos and love it.

www.usememos.com

I connect to it from my desktop at home and from my phone via a WireGuard VPN and it’s everything I need. Worth a look, I think.

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- precarious_primes@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Memos fits a wide variety of uses and is the first note system that has clicked for me. I use it for quick notes so I don’t forget things, journal-like entries, save for later (like Pocket), shopping lists and other todos.
  
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- rolltidehero@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Looks great! Does it have handwriting support?
  
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  - perishthethought@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I don’t see anything about that on their site.
    
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jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Obsidian is pretty neat. Can use it with Syncthing, although I guess you need Syncthing-Fork on Android now.

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- DampSquid@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  What’s this about Syncthing now?
  
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  - Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Dev discontinued the app due to google being difficult to maintain.
    
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- lordnikon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Obsidian is not open source but i also think it’s pretty neat.
  
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- xenspidey@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Resilio sync works great for that since syncthing is on the out. I actually prefer Resilio anyways
  
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linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’d vote for anytype or obsidian

Anytype has a learning curve, But it has built-in encryption and IPFS syncing provided by the company. The templating system is really slick and the relational aspect is pretty solid.

Obsidian + syncthing fork is a really solid contender. It’s much easier to work with out of the box but the features are a little more generic.

Neither of these are really self-hosted, so much as they are contained in their own ecosystem. You get some measure of higher availability that you have to really work for if you’re really self-hosting a product.

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- milan@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Hm at some point Anytime apps will be configurable for custom servers tho (i assumed they were already but i might have been wrong).
  
  Obsidian also has some interesting sync plugins that dont require syncthing
  
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  - linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The crypto is decent, it’s electron so it’s source available. If you want to ignore their hosting solution, you can disable the syncing and just take the vault from its config directory and sync it yourself
    
    The real downsides are that it’s not actual open source, so if they decided to screw around with the security or turn the crypto off somebody can’t just fork it.
    
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darcmage@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Welcome to the rabbit hole of selfhosted note-taking apps. selfh.st/apps/?tag=Note-Taking

Unfortunately, this is going to be a bit of a journey. You’ll probably end up going through a few of these options until you find one that works for you and fits your workflow.

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bastion@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Trilium. You’ll be glass you tried it.

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- Empricorn@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Are you threatening to nuke my home if I don’t!?
  
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  - bastion@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Ooh, typo. I’ll edit it so that those who fulfill these kinds of things know not to glass your home.
    
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- homegrowntechie@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Trilium is an excellent option, however, the original project is no longer maintained. There is a new community fork that is active here: github.com/TriliumNext/Notes
  
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  - bastion@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Good point.
    
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woodgen@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Results from me asking this 1Y ago: lemm.ee/post/4593760

Went with Joplin and using it since.

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variants@possumpat.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I setup nextcloud and just use that to backup my Obsidian notes. But I also use next cloud deck depending on the type of notes or list I’m making

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- RaoulDook@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Nextcloud has a Notes app too
  
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  - sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    This is what I use
    
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- Zeoic@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  You should take a look at the selfhosted live sync plugin for obsidian. It’s been working flawlessly for me for the past year.
  
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  - stom@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Doesn’t it actually require you to sign up to an account on some app hosting platform, rather than self host it?
    
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sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I use nextcloud notes because I already have nextcloud and my needs are not that sophisticated

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- sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m going to try this out. I hesitated because I was considering switching to Owncloud Infinite Scale, but I’m not going to bother because I decided the file structure OCIS uses is a deal-breaker (way too complex to recover in a disaster).
  
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jjlinux@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I use Joplin, no complaints.

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olafurp@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Nextcloud is a really good all-in-one solution for self hosting data

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christov@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’ve been getting on well with notesnook, the self hosting is in beta right now but its just a docker container. Docs are coming for self hosting in the near future.

notesnook.com

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- Lemongrab@lemmy.one ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Notesnook has a desktop app. Does it not work with self hosted implementation?
  
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  - christov@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You’re right! I missed it somehow
    
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bricklove@midwest.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m just using a self hosted git repo with markdown files. I was having trouble finding something open source that I could edit with vim that also had a good mobile solution. I also didn’t want to get locked into a file format that was specific to an app.

Markdown is ubiquitous and I use git all the time as a developer so it was easier to tack something onto an existing workflow. It’s a little janky but at least I won’t be screwed by devs abandoning whatever app I was using.

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desentizised@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
My solution is basically what @mojolobo mentions with Nextcloud behind it and I love the concept. Because Obsidian (via a WebDAV plugin on the phone) just syncs with the “Notes” folder in my Nextcloud root it really is just a bunch of .md (markdown) files. It gives me an added sense of security (on top of the self-hosting aspect) because I can see those files everywhere I have Nextcloud installed, I can edit them manually if I wanted to. On the PC you just point the Obsidian app to the folder, on phones you do it via a WebDAV plugin.

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werefreeatlast@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Probably Joplin is the easiest to use. Looks like OneNote but it’s different in many ways.

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Nibodhika@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I use silverbullet.md and love it, it’s a bit more than a note taking app, but it’s definitely worth it.

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Moonrise2473@feddit.it ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
It’s still in alpha but hoarder is promising

It’s designed to organize bookmarks, but can also support markdown notes with picture (a single picture, not multiple pictures)

Unfortunately at the moment the mobile app is so alpha that doesn’t support creation or editing such notes, only new bookmarks or new photos.

It uses a headless chromium to make screenshots for URLs.

Optionally, can use a bullshit generator like ollama or openai api keys to automatically create a lot of useless tags to each note

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umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Appflowy if Notion appels you. It is not 1.0 yet so some features you need might not be there.

appflowy.io

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piotrkulpinski@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
You can browse the collection on OpenAlternative here: openalternative.co/categories/notetaking

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- meneervana@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Thanks a lot!
  
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Wuttin@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Logseq + SyncThing-Fork for me. The killer feature I was looking for to switch from Evernote was voice recording support, logseq is the first thing I’ve found that does a decent job of it while having a solid Workflowy-style “bullets all the way down” interface, which I’ve come to appreciate. The mobile app still leaves a lot to be desired, it’s a little clunky with lots of buttons and very limited swipe gestures. Gets the job done anyhow, and the desktop app is amazing.

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- meneervana@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Thanks!
  
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Father_Redbeard@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Quillpad is the closest I’ve found. It’s simple markdown files. It can sync with Nextcloud as well. I use it for any short note or lists. Long form stuff including journal, I use Obsidian (not open source)

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- meneervana@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It really does have that same look that Google Keep has! Thanks for recommending, I will try this! Do you have experience with syncing Quillpad with Nextcloud?
  
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  - Father_Redbeard@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yes. I have a Pi4 running NextcloudPi image on it. I sync docs, pics, even backup my Obsidian vault. It’s worked really well for Quillpad in my experience. On desktop I use Iotas (Linux) if I need to update from that instead of my phone.
    
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jeena@piefed.jeena.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I use radicals for CalDAV and save notes there together with my calendars. On Android there is jtx Board which let's you work with them. Sadly on Linux I couldn't find anything so I started writing something myself but don't have much time to work on it.

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