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Trilium Notes
AGPL-3.0Trilium Notes is an open-source personal knowledge base replacing Evernote with deep hierarchical note trees, note cloning, and private local storage.
Open-source alternative to — compare it against:
Overview
Commercial note apps like Evernote restrict free accounts to a single notebook, meter monthly uploads, and keep personal archives on remote servers. Trilium Notes keeps your entire knowledge base on your own computer or private server without note limits or subscription tiers. Its deep hierarchical tree lets you organize thousands of documents without recurring fees or vendor lock-in.
Why Trilium Notes instead of Evernote
Evernote organizes research through notebooks, stacks, and tags, but confines each note to a single folder location. Trilium Notes changes that workflow through note cloning, which places the same note into multiple branches of your category tree simultaneously. If a receipt belongs under both tax records and renovation expenses, editing it in either folder updates both views without creating duplicate files or split revision histories. The visual editor matches standard desktop software, handling tables, images, checklists, and direct import from Evernote export files.
The operational trade-off centers on data ownership versus mobile setup. Trilium Notes runs as a standalone desktop program on Windows, macOS, or Linux, storing everything in an offline database without subscription fees or device limits. While Evernote offers polished first-party mobile store apps, Trilium Notes relies on a mobile web interface or community clients, requiring a private synchronization server or local network to access notes from a phone.
What it does well
- Deep folder trees that let users nest categories to any depth without hitting notebook limits.
- Note cloning that places one note across multiple folders, keeping project notes synchronized without creating duplicates.
- Built-in mind maps and sketching canvases that provide visual diagramming directly inside notes.
- Granular note encryption that protects sensitive records behind separate passwords while keeping daily journals searchable.
- Automatic revision tracking that preserves past versions, letting writers roll back accidental deletions without external backup tools.
- Standalone desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux that store notes in a local database without mandatory accounts.
Limitations
- No official first-party mobile application: smartphone users must use a mobile web browser or third-party community clients like Trinote for iOS and TriliumDroid for Android.
