Note-Taking Apps in 2025: Obsidian, Logseq, Joplin, and Standard Notes

The note-taking app market has fragmented into dozens of options, each with a different philosophy about how knowledge should be organized. Here is a practical comparison of the four most popular privacy-focused options. ### Obsidian Obsidian stores notes as plain Markdown files in a local folder. Its killer feature is bidirectional linking and a graph view that visualizes connections between notes. It has a massive plugin ecosystem. - **Best for:** Personal knowledge management, researchers, writers - **Sync:** Local by default; paid Obsidian Sync or third-party - **Open source:** No (free for personal use) ### Logseq Logseq is an open-source outliner that also uses local Markdown files. Its block-based structure makes it excellent for daily journaling and task management alongside notes. - **Best for:** Daily journaling, task management, outlining - **Sync:** Local by default; third-party sync - **Open source:** Yes (AGPL-3.0) ### Joplin Joplin is a fully open-source note-taking app with strong sync support across Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, and its own Joplin Cloud. It supports end-to-end encryption. - **Best for:** Cross-device sync with encryption, web clipping - **Sync:** Multiple cloud options with E2E encryption - **Open source:** Yes (AGPL-3.0) ### Standard Notes Standard Notes is built around longevity and security. All notes are end-to-end encrypted and stored as plain text. It is the most privacy-focused option. - **Best for:** Maximum privacy, long-term archiving - **Sync:** Built-in encrypted sync; self-hostable - **Open source:** Yes (AGPL-3.0) ### Quick Comparison | App | Open Source | E2E Encryption | Self-Hostable | Platforms | |---|---|---|---|---| | Obsidian | No | No | No | Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android | | Logseq | Yes | No | No | Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android | | Joplin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android | | Standard Notes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android/Web | **If privacy is your top priority, Standard Notes or Joplin. If knowledge management is, Obsidian or Logseq.**