Notesnook review 2026: open-source, end-to-end encrypted note-taking, pricing, and how it compares to Evernote, Obsidian, and Standard Notes.
Notesnook was founded in 2019 by Streetwriters, a small software company based in Khushab, Pakistan, to give privacy-conscious users a full-featured, end-to-end encrypted alternative to note apps like Evernote and OneNote.
The entire product, including client apps and the sync server, is open source, which lets technically inclined users audit the encryption implementation or self-host their own sync backend instead of relying on Notesnook's hosted infrastructure.
Notes are encrypted client-side using XChaCha20-Poly1305 with Argon2 key derivation before syncing, so Notesnook's servers only ever store encrypted data, following a zero-knowledge model similar to privacy-first password managers.
Beyond encryption, Notesnook includes notebooks and nested organization, tags, rich text formatting with embeds and attachments, a locked vault for sensitive individual notes, and cross-platform apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web.
Notesnook offers a free plan covering core encrypted note-taking, tagging, and sync across devices. The Pro plan unlocks unlimited notebooks, note version history, rich embeds, and vault protection, priced roughly between $1.99 and $8.99 per month depending on the billing term chosen.
As a bootstrapped, subscription-funded company, Notesnook relies on Pro subscriptions rather than venture funding or data monetization to sustain development.
Yes, Notesnook is 100 percent open source, including both the client applications and the self-hostable sync server.
Notesnook encrypts notes client-side using XChaCha20-Poly1305 for encryption and Argon2 for key derivation before any data is synced.
Yes, Notesnook has a free plan with core encrypted note-taking and sync; a Pro plan adds unlimited notebooks, version history, and vault protection.
Notesnook is developed by Streetwriters (Private) Limited, a company based in Khushab, Pakistan, and was founded in 2019.
Yes, because the sync server is open source, technically capable users can self-host their own backend instead of using Notesnook's hosted service.
Notesnook is built around zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption and is fully open source, whereas Evernote does not offer end-to-end encryption or open-source transparency.
Notesnook has apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and a web app.