Best Open Source Alternatives to Zoho Notebook

Compare the best free and open-source alternatives to Zoho Notebook — self-hosted and desktop replacements you fully control, ranked by GitHub stars, license and platform support.

Curated by open-source.store · Updated November 2026 · 5 alternatives

Zoho Notebook

Proprietary SaaS

PricingFreemium

Platformsweb, desktop, mobile, windows, macos, linux, android, ios

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Zoho Notebook alternatives compared

Open-source alternatives to Zoho Notebook, compared by stars, license and platform
Tool		License	Platforms	Self-hosted
Joplin	56,994	MIT	LinuxmacOSWindowsandroid	No	Nov 2026	Visit
Trilium Notes	38,669	AGPL-3.0	LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
Notesnook	14,881	GPL-3.0	LinuxmacOSWindowsWeb	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
Standard Notes	6,695	AGPL-3.0	LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
CherryTree	3,987	GPL-3.0	LinuxmacOSWindows	No	Nov 2026	Visit

Top open-source Zoho Notebook alternatives

Joplin56,994MIT

Joplin is an open-source, encrypted note-taking app that replaces Evernote with offline-first Markdown, terminal CLI access, and flexible self-hosted sync.

LinuxmacOSWindowsandroidios

vs Zoho Notebook: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed MIT.

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Trilium Notes38,669AGPL-3.0

Trilium Notes is an open-source personal knowledge base replacing Evernote with deep hierarchical note trees, note cloning, and private local storage.

LinuxmacOSWindowsDockerWeb

vs Zoho Notebook: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed AGPL-3.0.

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Notesnook14,881GPL-3.0

Notesnook replaces Evernote with an open-source note-taking app that provides multi-device sync, rich formatting, and local zero-knowledge encryption.

LinuxmacOSWindowsWebandroid

vs Zoho Notebook: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed GPL-3.0.

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Standard Notes6,695AGPL-3.0

Standard Notes replaces proprietary notebooks like Bear and Evernote with zero-knowledge encrypted note-taking across desktop, mobile, and web.

LinuxmacOSWindowsDockerWeb

vs Zoho Notebook: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed AGPL-3.0.

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CherryTree3,987GPL-3.0

CherryTree is a local-first hierarchical note-taking app that replaces cloud notebooks like Microsoft OneNote with single-file offline SQLite storage.

LinuxmacOSWindows

vs Zoho Notebook: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed GPL-3.0.

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Best Open Source Alternatives to Zoho Notebook

Zoho Notebook

Zoho Notebook alternatives compared

Top open-source Zoho Notebook alternatives

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