From Google Keep to Notesnook: Our Note-Taking Journey
The world of digital privacy has never been more vibrant. We're seeing a true renaissance of alternatives to Big Tech—from secure email services to private file storage and everything in between. These solutions are often built by passionate communities of developers and users who believe in the power of privacy.
When we decided to make our own shift to a fully privacy-focused digital toolbox, the challenge wasn't a lack of options, but rather finding the right one for us. We had to define our criteria first:
- Privacy-First: Our apps had to be genuine alternatives to mainstream tools, blocking trackers and data mining while using end-to-end, zero-knowledge encryption.
- Usability: Let's be honest, Big Tech has made their products incredibly attractive and easy to use. To ensure a smooth transition for everyone in the family, the replacements had to be just as user-friendly.
- Cross-Platform: Our family uses a mix of platforms—Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android/GrapheneOS. For any solution to work for us, it had to be available on all of them.
These requirements made it easy to sort through the best candidates for each category. We weren't concerned with whether a service used a subscription or donation model; we were happy to support a product either way. We found our solutions for many tools, like email, but one category proved to be more difficult: note-taking.
The Note-Taking Challenge
In the world of commercial software, there are a ton of note-taking solutions—from the simplicity of Google Keep to the more capable Evernote or the ubiquitous Microsoft OneNote. And for good reason—everyone has their own unique set of needs and styles. A project manager, for example, might need a complex set of notes, while a designer may want to store more graphical content.
For a long time, the perfect electronic sticky note solution for us was Google Keep. This free solution easily managed our simple check-box style shopping lists, recipes, install scripts, and that general "junk drawer" mixture of information we tend to collect. We needed to find an equally simple, yet secure and flexible, replacement for the whole family.
Our First Stop: Standard Notes
We first chose Standard Notes for a few key reasons:
1. Uncompromising Security and Privacy
- End-to-End Encryption: Standard Notes uses a powerful, independently audited end-to-end encryption method (XChaCha20-Poly1305). This means your data is encrypted on your device before it's ever synced to the cloud.
- Open-Source: The entire codebase for the application and its server is open-source. This allows security researchers and anyone else to inspect the code and verify its security claims, building a high level of trust.
- Data Control: Standard Notes offers features like two-factor authentication, nightly encrypted email backups, and easy data export, providing a high degree of control over your own information.
2. Cross-Platform Accessibility
- Wide Availability: Standard Notes is available on virtually every major platform, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and web browsers. This makes it easy to access and sync notes seamlessly across all devices.
- Offline Access: Notes are available even without an internet connection, as a local copy is always stored on your device.
3. Simplicity and Longevity
- Minimalist Design: The app has a clean and simple interface that focuses on a distraction-free writing experience. This is a deliberate choice to avoid "feature creep" and keep the application lightweight and fast.
- Core Functionality: The free version provides essential features like unlimited notes, unlimited devices, and end-to-end encryption.
4. Versatility with a Purpose
- Different Note Types: While the free version is primarily for plain text, paid plans offer a variety of "editors" for different types of content, including:
- Rich text and Markdown for formatting.
- Checklists and to-do lists.
- Code snippets.
- Spreadsheets.
- Organizational Tools: Users can organize their notes with nested folders and tags. A "Smart Views" feature allows for complex search queries and filtering.
- Markdown Support: The use of Markdown formatting ensures that your notes are in a portable, plain-text format, so they are not locked into a proprietary system.
Given its association with Proton, Standard Notes initially felt like a good fit. Until it didn't. The need to enable various editors to replace the native functionality of Google Keep sort of made it feel like an IKEA app—with some assembly required. After purchasing what felt like an expensive year-long subscription and moving all the data over, it honestly felt like overkill for our needs. And if it felt complex for those of us who are "computer fans," the rest of the family would have actively run away from it.
As we said before, everyone has their own set of note-taking requirements, so some will be huge fans of the power and flexibility of Standard Notes. But we needed simplicity. That's when we tripped across Notesnook.
Our New Home: Notesnook
Notesnook is a strong contender in the privacy-focused note-taking space, and it appeals to users who want a balance between robust security and a feature-rich, modern experience. While it shares a core philosophy with Standard Notes, Notesnook offers a different set of features that caused us to consider it:
1. A More Feature-Rich, Modern Interface
- Rich Text and Markdown Editors: Unlike Standard Notes' free tier, Notesnook's basic plan offers both a powerful rich text editor and Markdown support. This means users can format their notes with things like tables, checklists, code blocks, and images without having to upgrade.
- More Built-in Features: Notesnook comes with a wider array of features out-of-the-box, including a task management system, reminders, and a web clipper. This makes it a more comprehensive tool for productivity from the get-go.
- Visual Organization: The app allows for a more visual and flexible organization system with notebooks, nested sub-notebooks, tags, and even note colors. This can be a major plus for people who prefer a more structured and color-coded approach to their notes.
2. Emphasis on Zero-Knowledge and Encryption
- End-to-End Encryption by Default: Like Standard Notes, Notesnook encrypts all notes on your device before they are synced to the cloud, ensuring "zero-knowledge" storage. This means the company cannot read your data.
- Double-Layered Security: Notesnook offers a "Vault" feature that provides an additional layer of encryption for your most sensitive notes. These notes are password-protected and can only be opened after entering a separate password.
- App Locking: If a device is left unlocked, the app can lock itself when it either goes idle or is moved to the background.
3. Advanced Functionality and Connectivity
- Bidirectional Note Linking: This feature allows users to easily link notes to each other, creating a network of interconnected ideas. This is a powerful tool for building a personal knowledge base or "second brain."
- Encrypted Sharing: Notesnook has a unique "Monograph" feature that allows you to publish a note to a public URL with optional password protection and a self-destruct feature. The content remains encrypted until the recipient opens it with the correct password.
- Robust Import/Export: Notesnook has a "zero lock-in" policy. It offers a powerful importer tool to seamlessly migrate notes from other apps like Evernote and a comprehensive export feature to save your notes as plain text, Markdown, HTML, or PDF, ensuring you can always take your data with you.
Best of all, they offer a very generous free tier to try out the features of the app before making any financial commitments. It was that free tier that sold us because we could clearly see and experience the simplicity and power within the app. Finally, the subscription was less expensive, which is always positive.
Privacy is a Journey
Unlike the past, there are now numerous options in the privacy space to fit everyone's needs. Sometimes, you may have to test a few to find the right match for you. Always consider those that offer full feature functionality in their free tiers before committing to a subscription. Everyone is passionate about the products they use and has their reasons for their enthusiasm—just raise the question about which password manager is the best to see that enthusiasm on display!
We like to discuss products or solutions that we actually use every day. Sometimes, we adopt a solution that may not be a great fit for us, such as this instance. Like you, we put our own money on the line with the product and understand the frustration when it doesn't work out. That's why we don't accept sponsorships; we feel it's necessary to experience the products and services exactly the same way anyone else would.
Just keep testing until you find the perfect match for you. Remember, we may not have anything to hide, but everything to protect.
