Looking for a note taking app
Atri Hegde
I am going to be starting university in a few months, and wanted to settle down on a note taking app that would carry me through my 4 years at university. I have been using obsidian for well over 6 months now, taking small notes, and using it as a journal at times, and am used to how plugins, and other features of the app work. However it closed source, and I felt the need to switch to something open source and free. This is when I found joplin.
Joplin
Pros
- It is free and open source software.
- It offers free sync options using nextcloud/WebDAV or other providers such onedrive and dropbox.
- It offers a fully CLI version for users that want it. This is something I'll definitely be checking out soon.
- It offers free end to end encryption.
- Enhanced markdown support.
- Very useful webclipper function (requires browser addon, allowing you to quickly screenshot, clip url, or save page content as markdown or html).
- Easy exports and imports.
- No paywall for features.
Cons
- Desktop app uses electron.
- I dislike the way notebooks are managed, I prefer the 'vault' system from obsidian that I used to use.
Obsidian
Pros
Cons
Org-mode
Pros
Cons
Conclusion
Although its a bit different from used to, it seems powerful enough for my needs, and has a lot of features that seem useful to me. It is a shame that uses electron but I do understand the reason for doing so. All in all I think its fantastic for my use case, which would be note taking for university. I will be learning LaTeX soon, so keep an eye out for the review of LaTeX; since I will probably replace joplin with LaTeX if I become proficient enough in it!