itsnotes

Alex Micu built itsnotes to solve the visual clutter and sluggish browsing that take over Google Keep once note collections grow past a few dozen cards. The self-hosted web app preserves Keep's sticky-note cards and color labels while structuring storage inside a local PostgreSQL database with month-by-month timeline markers and folder organization. That design gives non-technical users the familiar card interface of a consumer service without commercial cloud lock-in.

Why itsnotes instead of Google Keep

In Google Keep, scrolling through hundreds of colorful cards quickly degrades into an unmanageable wall of text where the browser struggles to render sprawling masonry grids. Finding a note from last spring requires endless downward scrolling. itsnotes solves that bottleneck by breaking the board into chronological monthly markers and offering a compact list view alongside the classic card grid. Backed by a dedicated PostgreSQL database with indexed sorting rather than opaque cloud synchronization, searches across thousands of entries resolve locally without waiting on remote server round-trips.

Migrating off Keep requires zero manual retyping: uploading a Google Takeout export directly into itsnotes restores checklists, pinned states, color labels, and embedded images intact. In exchange for local performance and data ownership, users trade away Google's turnkey ecosystem. itsnotes lacks native mobile apps in app stores, offering an installable Progressive Web App instead, and self-hosting requires running Docker containers rather than simply signing in with a browser.

What it does well

• Timeline markers that segment the main board by month, preventing older notes from disappearing into a bottomless scroll.
• Direct Google Takeout imports that bring over checklists, labels, colors, timestamps, and image galleries without manual cleanup.
• Multiple viewing modes, including a dense list layout and a stacked view, letting everyday users scan grocery lists or daily tasks rapidly.
• Two-way Markdown file mirroring that writes every note to a local folder with metadata headers, keeping records accessible outside the app.
• Basic folders and customizable color categories, allowing household members to organize recipes, travel plans, and reminders neatly.
• Obsidian vault import support that preserves internal note links, highlights, tags, and attachments for users moving off complex wikis.