Joplin or Obsidian
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
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I love Joplin! Mine is also synced over Nextcloud. But can also backup to proprietary cloud providers like OneNote or others for free to sync multiple devices.
+1 for Joplin.
I originally tried to self host, but then decided to just have a cloud stored version. And my local Joplin apps (phone, desktop, laptop, etc) fetches it and syncs it.
I had some minor issues with backups. But two years in, it's been my Evernote/onenote/Google keep killer.
Love Joplin but I'm biased. I actually loved it so much I somehow ended up joining the actual Joplin org... Not been involved for a while now though.
Joplin stores everything in a database and back up / sync can fail and/or corrupt... It's nice that it's FOSS but that was a deal breaker for me.
Obsidian stores everything in plain folders and markdown files and you can sync it between devices however you want. It's not FOSS, unfortunately, but at least the data is easily accessible even without a program.
You can have multiple backups methods.
Some users point Joplin to their Dropbox/Google drive/ cloud storage/etc on their desktop.
Some users have it backup DIRECTLY to their cloud.
Some run export scripts where you get the whole file.
Some use git.
And the power to export it to markdown instantly is also what makes it great.
Sync targets are never recommended as a backup. It now ships with a backup plugin to automate backups properly.
SilverBullet also stores plain md files, a bit more barebones/"hacker"-oriented.
Never used OneNote, but I use Joplin for everything. Synced over my Nextcloud
what is your usecase and what device and OS do you want to use it on?
I use onenote on a Surface tablet and a Samsung Note phone.*
Some images as a background to draw on. Then only handwritten stuff and basic colored sketches. I pretty much don't use the keyboard.
*Changed one pc in the house to Linux, so maybe that's a future option for the tablet.
Any recommendations for that use case?
Joplin runs on both Linux and Windows and can be synced via their own cloud, Nextcloud (selfhosted) and other options that i forgot. Joplin is more focused on markdown notes, but it also has a drawing feature, but i haven't used it much so i can't say much about it apart from the fact that it exists. try it out. If it does not work, use Xournal++. That is mainly focused on written notes. However afaik it does not have a note sorting system so you would have to do that in the file explorer.
I have Joplin on my Linux PC and Android phone. They are synced with SyncThing.
I like logseq for note taking. It has a lot of cool albeit a bit hidden features.
Yeah my only gripe is that the Android app has some weird quirks and that the performance keeps getting worse and worse the more you use it.
You could use obsidian and sync it with a variety of tools!
would help if you tell us what features you regularly use.
I mean, OneNote is so many very different tools at the same time...
I love Supernotes. But I switched from Microsoft To do to it, never have used onenote, so not sure if this is what you search.
Another vote for supernotes.
Its software designed and made to be good, not to chase an inflated ipo or speedrun enshittification.
On desktop Linux, Joplin is pretty awesome for this, but I personally use Marktext since it's more like a code editor where you open a folder of Markdown files. It's a little different to how OneNote (and Joplin) works, as they organise notes into "notebooks".
On Android, aside from Joplin, Markor is excellent as well!
If you happen to use a Linux phone, I've been using Apostrophe on my pmOS Phosh device and it's pretty good, but there are no "notebooks" or folder structure, it's more similar to a standard text editorm It has all the markdown bits you need though, and that's enough for me. I can just navigate to different notes via the file picker!
If you mostly make hand-written notes, Saber is awesome and can sync via Nextcloud. Plus, it's available on desktop Linux, Android, iOS, and even mobile Linux! Very cool. Other apps exist too, like Xournal++ and Rnote.
To sync between files, I use Syncthing. It's peer to peer and doesn't rely on a hosted cloud service, and it's very quick too because of this! I also my old laptop running as a little server, and it also runs Syncthing (so I can sync even with just one mobile device on)
I've also heard many people use Nextcloud for sync if you do need a cloud hosted services. You can decide to run NC on either a public instance, a VPS, or your own local hardware depending on your use case and technical know-how.
Some people like Obsidian too, but I find that the "vaults" make it harder to go between my different notes. It's also closed-source unfortunately. If neither of those bother you, it's a great option that's super configurable with a vast plugin ecosystem!
There's nothing like OneNote, I've been there before. Your best options are markdown knowledge bases like trilium, obsidian or joplin. But the thing where you can place text anywhere doesn't exist in any other app afaik
Only thing keeping lots of schools stuck with M$.
I also searched for an alternative to OneNote. I decided to use AnyType. Its more like a Notion replacement but for me it works.
Evernote, Capacities, Notesnook, Standard Notes (Not all of them fully European)
What is the appeal? I dont get it
And yes I guess Joplin/Obsidian/Logseq
Depends on how you like the balance between open-source, control, self-hosting/independent sync and ease of usel/"just works"