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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Logseq, it’s a lot like Obsidian as it also has knowledge graphs, tags, is markdown-based and self-hostable but, in contrast to Obsidian, it’s fully open source
Much prefer Logseq as well.
Checking out Logseq now. I switched to Obsidian a few months ago and have been really liking it. Was time to switch it up from org-mode after YEARS of using it
Logseq user here too.
However, for a quick, transitory note, I use Kate or, more recently, Xpad. Only then I transcribe the content to Logseq. Why?
Because while Logseq is great as an outliner and for network thinking, it’s as graceful and agile as an elephant.
The gist of what I’m saying is: for now, and for me (hardware might be playing a role here, but I don’t think so) Logseq is a good note database. For quick typing, I have to use something else.
Joplin. Obsidian is not open source, doesn’t have native self hosting and it gets complicated. Joplin is very simple and just works. Although, it stores the notes in a hashed database, so you can’t edit raw files without Joplin client
Trilium for the same reasons, but the featureset of Trilium is more like Obsidian.
Trillium was originally created to be an open source replacement for Roam Research.Trilium came out in 2017, and had Roam-like features before Roam even existed. It’s similarities to Obsidian are purely coincidental, probably because Obsidian is designed to be a cross between Roam and Evernote.Please, I don’t want to be rude, so don’t take me wrong.
I think that’s not accurate. Trillium is not even an outliner, let alone a block note taking app. I think you’re mixing trillium with Logseq.
My memory may be failing me, but I think trillium has been around longer than Roam Research.
And yes, it’s a great open source note taking app!
I started using Trilium in early 2020, with version 0.40.2. Roam had released in 2019 and was growing in popularity quickly, I heard a lot about Roam, it looked cool, so I googled for an open-source self-hosted knowledge base note taking app with similar features to Roam, like notes arranged in a knowledge graph, and a backlinks explorer for each note. The only one that was available then was trilium. Looks like you’re right, the development of trilium was started in 2017, before Roam existed. This is a great interview with the creator, answers a lot of the questions I had. https://console.substack.com/p/console-169
Obsidian didn’t come out until a few months later (and remained under the radar until 2021), all my colleagues and friends use Obsidian now, but I prefer trilium. I had never heard of logseq before I read this thread. Just a quick glance, I see the first 0.1.0 version logseq was in April 2021, just before the first obsidian release.
Problem with Joplin: The raw files are randomly named so you can’t easily find a specific note
That’s not even the bigger problem. I found the desktop ui very clunky. There were too many papercuts for me to keep using joplin. However, its TUI and mobile app are excellent.
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
I use Obsidian - it’s phenomenal! https://avidandrew.com/elevate-your-note-taking-with-obsidian.html
Obsidian, and there’s also another one that’s not yet self-hostable but planning to, called Notesnook
Logseq.
I used Joplin in the past, but just didn’t quite get completely comfortable with it.
I also tried Nextcloud in the past… that project has become too big for my needs and the file syncing had issues.
Logseq is very similar to Joplin (ie markdown files), but IMHO the editor is easier with Logseq, plus the files are just simple plaintext files, named after the page title, so are easy to edit outside of the application (and immediately update in the app)
At first, I was a little unsure of Logseq’s default of working as a daily journal, but after a while it makes more sense for me - I use it at work, so 99.9% of my notes are meetings, tasks that occur during daily life… and of course those daily journals can refer to other “non-time based” project pages…
I also use syncthing to sync the notes between android phone, linux and Windows laptops and my NAS… so that wouldn’t change for you.
A nice grid lined notebook and a mechanical pencil is still my favorite.
I like to use Google Keep for certain things, but I have a hard time explaining how those things are better for Google Keep.
I’m looking at giving Neorg a try.
A nice grid lined notebook and a mechanical pencil is still my favorite.
If only my default font wasn’t so bad that it causes data loss.
I also really liked Google Keep. Carnet was at one point a decent drop-in replacement on Android+Nextcloud, but it got progressively bitrotted over time and now I just use Nextcloud Notes until I find something better.
Ever try Quillpad? I don’t love that it’s sync is stuck on Nextcloud, but it’s the best feature for feature keep replacement that I could find.
Logseq with Syncthing!
Love the journal style to it
Me too. Something about the bullet point style of note taking just clicked in me, and now I can’t go back.
Testing this out now.
Markor on Android and Obsidian on Desktop.
All synced with syncthing
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.)
I am currently on Obsidian without any sync at all. Using this in both desktop and mobile.
But used it more in mobile for an offline note-taking app where I could write and read them without any internet connection. Especially to load images from local, make categorization (folders) and more with data I had in my mobile.
While for desktop, I rarely opened it anymore. I am more into VIM with markdown format and then just push it to git host for a quicker note taking.
Emacs with org mode. It has so many feature hooked into so many other things such as time management, calendar, email, jupyter. Hard to switch.
Emacs + org-mode for task planning and knowledge base, Obsidian + Syncthing for notes on-the-go.
Holy crap I didn’t know Syncthing existed and just realized it’s perfect for my use case (taking D&D notes and keeping them on multiple devices). Thanks for the useful comment!
You are welcome! :)
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I’d like to highly recommend QOwnNotes with. File system sync like Nextcloud. Superb.
I used this for a bit. I’m on obsidian now.
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
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.
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.
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!
Not OP, but:
- It works on any platform.
- You can share and collaborate on notes (great for family to-do lists and shopping lists).
- File based, but intelligently synced.
- Nested tree structure to organise notes.
- Free form formatting, including positioning.
- Inking support and OCR.
If you can think of any note taking feature, 99% it’s already there and works like a charm.
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.
