Any recommendations for a self hosted note taking app that runs on everything with a screen and is designed for multi device usage?
Also a modern, powerful and puristic UI would be a must have to compete with Keep.
I am looking for this app every now and then but am always disappointed by the choices.
I recently tried Joplin on Android, but was very dissatisfied with the usabilty.
The FOSS self hosted alternatives for smart home and porn are better than the commercial ones, can’t be that hard for notes, can it?
Might not the thing you are looking for, but I tried to find a replacement for Keep a year ago and somehow stuck with a todo.txt file. It can be edited in a normal text editor but I use todo. Tx
Im using nextcloud notes and it works perfectly fine in browser/android app. Doesnt look good like google keep, but had no issues with it. Recently I also started using memos, it looks like super simple private twiter and it has awesome android/ios app called MoeMemos. Not sure about encription, but it looks amazing
Check their web
I’m a big fan of Logseq. I use Syncthing to sync a folder between my desktop and phone and it works great. Tagging, everything is in markdown, and it’s easy to navigate around.
I use a basic markdown editor on android called Markor. Is Logseq the same? Or is it more than that?
Definitely more. It’s geared to note taking, with hashtags, wiki-like linking, and loads of other features. The main page is here.
i made the same migration from markor (files in a folder) to logseq. there’s a lot to be gained - always-preview alone is a game changer - but on mobile the visibility of the keyboard can be fiddly. once in a while you’ll feel like you’re in vi, it has such a mind of its own. but i’m not planning to go back
Is there any mobile app for it?
Yeah, it’s on the Apple app store, and the Android version is available directly from their GitHub release page as an APK, or on F-Droid.
I want this sooooo bad.
For the record, I also found that turtl is FOSS and seems to have a decent UI. I will give it a try.
Did you try it?
In another comment you complained about the latest commit being made 7 years ago. Just a heads up, this project also seems pretty abandoned.
try obsidian.md
this is my current solution; I use Obsidian to manage my notes and I sync the folder with Syncthing. I still use Google Keep though for its whiteboard tool; is there a better app for that?
Haven’t tried the whiteboard tool in Google keep (didn’t even know there was one), but the Excalidraw plugin for Obsidian should cover almost any whiteboard use case I can think of. A bit more limited but also good is the native Canvas plugin in Obsidian.
Have you tried the Excalidraw plugin for obsidian? This may be closer to what you’re looking for. Otherwise, would the canvas feature do what you need?
I’ve been using Trilium (https://github.com/zadam/trilium). There are desktop clients, no mobile clients. However the web interface works well enough for me that I don’t mind. The notes update in near-realtime when you make edits through the web app on multiple machines (assuming internet connectivity of course).
If you’re already self-hosting NextCloud you might want to look NextCloud Notes as well.
I’ve been using Logseq and syncing via syncthing, but you can sync with any file syncing service
This is the way.
I’m using Logseq and syncthing across Windows, Linux and Android. Works well.
The TODO / DOING / DONE option works well for me for checklists and the on the fly linking is amazing.
One of the main things I feel is missing is there doesn’t seem to be a way to view and track all tasks in all your pages, I generally like tasks to live with the relevant info rather than in the journals. Do you know if there’s a way to get something like that?
Yes, look at the TODO / DOING (virtual) pages.
There’s also a Todo plugin (desktop version only at the mo), but I didn’t get on with it.
I’m really enjoying Otterwiki. Everything is saved as markdown, attachments are next to the markdown files in a folder, and version control is integrated with a git repo. Everything lives in a directory and the application runs from a docker container.
It’s the perfect amount of simplicity and is really just a UI on top of fully portable standard tech.
Honestly, the closest I have found is https://github.com/baggachipz/tinylist It looks like keep, can share and edit files with other people, which is something a lot of things are lacking and I use it extensively for that. Also, I don’t like the recommendations of using MD apps/files for a simple checklist/random notes app. That’s way too much for something this simple and I use Obsidian as well. But they serve much different purposes.
It allows you to host your own database for it, and there is a guide on it.
No dockerhub image is a dealbreaker. Especially for Unraid
Looks like you can host your own database and tie the web app to that. I’m going to try it later today with my unRAID server.
Was going to make the same suggestion. You can try it out at https://tinylist.app
This is awesome! Thanks!
I use Nextcloud with Carnet. I haven’t used Keep in years so I don’t know the current features but when I made the switch to Carnet it was very comparable.
On Nextcloud it is an app you install separately. For your phone you’ll find Carner on f-droid. Sadly there is no client for iOS. Link https://www.getcarnet.app/
I’ve had success with Standard Notes personally. I’ve just used the basic default server, but I know you can self host it. Best of luck!!
Oh, I didn’t realize it was open source from the look of the website. But it actually is! And it’s active. https://github.com/standardnotes/app
I will check it out.
Automattic, who owns Wordpress, also owns Standard Notes.
Do you have a receipt for that?
Oops, I got confused with Simplenote, guess it’s a new recommendation then.
Gotcha, thanks for the clarification
I second Standard Notes. My focus is very geared towards privacy and security and Standard Notes excels at that as well.
Notesnook, whenever they release self hosting.
Nextcloud and Quillpad is decent.
whenever they release self hosting.
Are there any plans? I just got their 70% off on subscription and I like it, but it would be great if there’d be a self hosted server.
Self hosting is currently in progress
This is great. And I don’t regret paying the subscription.
What about Obsidian?
I actually stumbled upon it, but even though they have an active github account and there is an Arch Linux package, the software is proprietary. So I would rather patch the FOSS alternatives to my desire.
Logseq is pretty similar to Obsidian, and it’s FOSS. It’s still really young, but I’ve enjoyed using it more than Obsidian for my personal note taking style. It’s block-based and focused on daily journals, so instead of folders of individual notes the tags/references become interlinked pages. It’s been cool to see my daily logs become a web of concepts. Syncing is a new function they’re adding for supporters, but it can be done with Syncthing if you’re nasty.
It’s definitely a different way of note taking than Keep or Joplin and maybe not for everyone, but I hope I’m at least doing it justice and piqued someone’s curiosity!
I was going to recommend Logseq as well. I use the git plug-in on laptops and Working Copy (git on iOS) and some automations to sync it on mobile.
I looked into the git plugin and Working Copy, but the app price pushed me to support the Logseq team. I’m totally cool paying for apps, though $25 isn’t a trivial cost for an experiment, and I just figured I could put that money toward the development of the app I want versus a third party workaround, for lack of a better word.
I do appreciate that it works with git though, and I’m tempted to try it out just for a fun weekend project.
Are there any plugins you’d recommend for Logseq?
