Joplin

The quick details

Joplin is an open source, free note taking application.

Privacy is an actively prioritised aspect of the design.

Functionality is mostly comparable to Evernote, of which Joplin can import from and is designed to replace.

Joplin supports synchronising your data with a file host of your choice with end to end encryption.

Is there a cost?

No, all functionality is capable of being used for free on publically available platforms like OneDrive or Dropbox's free tiers.

And to be clear, you don't have to use online services at all. You can turn off the network access permissions in the system settings. Features such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR) function offline.

Core details

• Notes are formatted in Markdown
• Swap to using the exclusive Rich Text Editor mode to hide the clutter, if you don't want Markdown
• HTML can be used for additional flair
• PDF's can be attached to notes with built-in, offline OCR
• Tables
• Pictures
• Mermaid diagrams
• Katex
• Handwritten notes via mobile touchscreens (using Joplin Mobile)
• Optical Character Recognition
• These core features are supported across all platforms, everything is still free, use as many devices with as many notes as your host allows

Some special highlights

• Reminders
• Web Browser clipper extension, to import content from Firefox, Chrome, etc
• Plugins!

Use cases

• A highly efficient shopping list, with attached receipts
• Technical documentation for your internal network
• Collection of topics on your university thesis
• A to-do list that can set reminders and travel with you
• Keep all your tax statements, invoices, and organised insurance documents
• A cookbook
• A diary
• A journal
• Store memes

What if I need my data?

• Your notes can be exported back to their original formats at any point, for manipulation with backup tools and such
• Notes can also be reimported back into Joplin at any time
• By keeping everything as Markdown internally (with some optional dashes of HTML if users insist), the Joplin format is intrinsically future proofed and capable of being used in other software

Plugins

An actively growing plugin developer community is flourishing, allowing Joplin to be customised further with community driven enhancements.

• Music Sheets
• Hugo Export (Joplin builds a static website!)
• Themes (in addition to the built in themes)
• Integration into Visual Studio Code
• Kanban Boards
• Templates
• Bibtex

Browse public plugins: https://joplinapp.org/plugins

Make your own plugins: https://joplinapp.org/help/api/get_started/plugins

Software license

AGPL3.0 - You can distribute and use this however you like, for free, within the open source spirit.

Support the project

Users can support Joplin development by subscribing to Joplin's own Joplin Cloud product, offering a natively supported, cloud storage provider for Joplin's sync functionality, with some unique extras such as sharing notebooks online, or an email inbox that allows you to send emails and convert them directly into notes.

You can also self host this at home, for free! Your support is welcome, but Joplin will always be free.

Get help

• https://discourse.joplinapp.org
• https://joplinapp.org/help
• https://google.com