Standard Notes
A privacy-first, end-to-end encrypted notes app, open source and self-hostable, now part of Proton.
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sovereigntyStandard Notes is built around zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption: notes are encrypted on-device before they ever reach a server, so not even Standard Notes (or Proton, which acquired the company in April 2024) can read them. The app is open source and its sync server can be self-hosted, though the free tier is limited to plain-text notes — rich text, Markdown, spreadsheets, and file attachments require a paid plan or self-hosted setup with community extensions.
OPEN SOURCEAGPL-3.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
LicenseAGPL-3.0
PricingFree tier: unlimited plain-text notes, unlimited devices, 100MB total storage, no rich text/attachments/history. Paid Productivity tier: $90/year (Markdown, rich text, spreadsheets, unlimited history). Professional tier: $120/year (adds 100GB encrypted file storage, family sharing). Self-hosting the sync server is free.
Open sourceYes
Self-hostableYes
Local-first dataYes
What it does well
- +Audited zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption by default — stronger baseline privacy than Evernote's standard cloud storage
- +AGPL-3.0 open source, with a self-hostable sync server for readers who want full control
- +Unlimited notes and devices even on the free tier — no per-device cap like Evernote's single-device free plan
- +Backed by Proton's long-term privacy-focused funding model since the 2024 acquisition, a signal of stability
Where it falls short
- −Free tier is plain-text only — rich text, Markdown rendering, and file attachments require a paid subscription, a real step down from Evernote's richer free formatting
- −No OCR or document-scanning search comparable to Evernote's
- −100MB storage cap on the free tier is tight for anyone attaching files or images
Standard Notes as an alternative to
Where Standard Notes shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
Standard Notes head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.