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Joplin Review

Joplin is an open-source note-taking application that supports multimedia notes, web clipping, and end-to-end encryption, offering robust syncing options and a note history feature.

shipped Aug 18, 2026freemium
Domain rating74Monthly visits54K/mo
Joplin — product screenshot

Why it matters

1Joplin is an open-source application available across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Terminal platforms.
2It supports end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for privacy-focused note-taking.
3The application features a plugin ecosystem for customization, including AI functionalities like local voice-to-text and grammar checks.
4Joplin Cloud, a paid subscription service, enables note sharing, collaboration, and web publishing.

Specs

API Available

Yes, public API

overview

What is Joplin?

Joplin is an open-source note-taking application developed by its community that enables individuals to create, organize, and synchronize multimedia notes and to-do lists. It supports Markdown files, web clipping, and end-to-end encryption, emphasizing user privacy and data control.

features

Key Features of Joplin

Joplin provides a comprehensive set of features for note management, emphasizing privacy, customization, and cross-platform accessibility. Its core functionalities are extended through a robust plugin ecosystem.

  • Open-source note-taking application for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Terminal.
  • Supports multimedia notes, including images, videos, PDFs, and audio attachments.
  • Web clipping extensions available for Chrome and Firefox browsers.
  • End-to-end encryption (E2EE) for all notes and attachments.
  • Robust syncing options with Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, and WebDAV.
  • Note history feature allowing users to view and restore previous versions of notes.
  • Extensive plugin ecosystem for customization, adding features like local voice-to-text, interactive chat, grammar checks, summarization, and advanced writing assistance.
  • Full support for Markdown files, including rendering and editing.
  • Self-hosting support for data storage and synchronization.
  • Tagging and notebook organization for efficient note retrieval.

use cases

Who Should Use Joplin?

Joplin is designed for users who prioritize data privacy, cross-platform compatibility, and extensive customization in their note-taking workflow. Its feature set caters to both individual and collaborative use cases.

  • Individuals requiring privacy-focused note-taking with end-to-end encryption.
  • Users who need to access and synchronize notes across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS devices.
  • Developers and power users seeking an open-source application with a rich plugin ecosystem for customization and scripting.
  • Professionals and students for general note-taking, task management, and building personal knowledge bases.
  • Users who want to save web pages and screenshots directly into their note collection using browser extensions.

how to use

How to Use Joplin

To begin using Joplin, users download the application for their preferred operating system and can immediately start creating notes. Synchronization and advanced features are configured within the application settings.

  • 1Download and install the Joplin application from joplinapp.org for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS.
  • 2Create new notes using Markdown format, organizing them into notebooks and applying tags.
  • 3Install the Joplin Web Clipper extension for Chrome or Firefox to save web content directly to Joplin.
  • 4Configure synchronization with services like Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, or OneDrive via the 'Synchronization' settings.
  • 5Enable end-to-end encryption in the 'Encryption' settings for sensitive notes.
  • 6Explore and install plugins from the 'Plugins' section to extend functionality, including AI-powered tools.

pricing

Joplin Pricing & Plans

Joplin operates on a freemium model, offering a fully functional open-source application for free, with an optional paid subscription service for enhanced cloud capabilities.

  • Joplin App: Free – Includes open-source note-taking, multimedia notes, web clipping, end-to-end encryption, and syncing with various third-party services (e.g., Dropbox, OneDrive).
  • Joplin Cloud: Paid subscription – Provides additional features such as sharing notes with others, collaborating on notes, and publishing notes to the internet. Specific pricing tiers and costs are detailed on the Joplin Cloud website.

Pros

  • +Open-source and free core application, ensuring data ownership and no vendor lock-in.
  • +End-to-end encryption (E2EE) for all notes and attachments, enhancing privacy.
  • +Cross-platform availability across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Terminal.
  • +Extensive plugin ecosystem allows for deep customization and extended functionalities, including AI tools.
  • +Robust synchronization options with various cloud services (Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud).
  • +Supports Markdown for flexible note formatting and includes a web clipper for Chrome and Firefox.

Cons

  • Markdown reliance can present a steeper learning curve for non-technical users.
  • User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) are sometimes perceived as less polished or dense compared to proprietary alternatives.
  • Search functionality has been noted by some users as an area for improvement.
  • Mobile synchronization may occasionally require manual triggering, especially with large note collections.
  • Image handling stores images in a single folder with non-descriptive filenames, which can be less intuitive.
  • Lacks native knowledge-base features like graph view or advanced bidirectional linking found in some competitors.

Similar Tools

Joplin vs Competitors

Joplin positions itself as a robust open-source alternative to proprietary note-taking solutions, emphasizing privacy, data control, and extensibility through its plugin architecture.

1

Focuses on local Markdown files and building a 'second brain' with a powerful graph view and extensive plugin ecosystem.

Obsidian is local-first and highly customizable, similar to Joplin's plugin approach, but its core strength lies in linking notes and the graph view, which Joplin doesn't emphasize as much. Joplin offers built-in E2EE and web clipping more directly, while Obsidian relies on plugins for these functionalities.

2
Standard Notes

Offers extreme focus on privacy and end-to-end encryption, with a minimalist interface for plain text notes.

Standard Notes prioritizes security and simplicity, offering E2EE by default for all notes, similar to Joplin. However, its free tier is more basic, and rich text or advanced features like web clipping often require a paid subscription, whereas Joplin offers more features in its free open-source version.

3
Logseq

Emphasizes block-based outlining and bidirectional linking to build a personal knowledge graph, similar to Roam Research but local-first.

Logseq is open-source and local-first like Joplin, but its primary workflow is outlining and linking blocks of information, which is a different paradigm than Joplin's more traditional note-taking structure. Joplin has more direct support for multimedia and web clipping out of the box.

4
Trilium Notes

A powerful self-hosted knowledge base with a rich feature set for organizing notes hierarchically, including scripting and advanced customization.

Trilium Notes is also open-source and self-hostable, offering a highly structured and customizable environment for notes, similar to Joplin's flexibility. However, Trilium's focus is more on hierarchical organization and advanced features for power users, which can have a steeper learning curve than Joplin's more straightforward note-taking experience.

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