Beaver Notes vs Joplin
We give Beaver Notes a 3.4 GPA and Joplin a 3.6, out of 4.0. Beaver Notes grades higher on ease of use. Joplin grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Joplin
Open source Markdown notes with sync through a service you choose
How we grade them
| 3.4GPABeaver NotesVery good | 3.6GPAJoplinExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe whole app is free and open source under the MIT licence, with no monthly fee and no paid tier. The project says it will stay free and takes donations. | AThe apps are free and open source, and you can sync them through storage you already have. If you'd rather not, Joplin Cloud Basic is 2.40€ a month billed yearly (28.69€) for 2 GB. Students and teachers get 50% off. |
| Free plan and trial | AEverything is free with no account: the editor, locked notes, attachments and sync through your own storage. There's nothing to upgrade to. A hosted sync option, BeaverSync, is announced for later this year. | AThe desktop, mobile and terminal apps are all free and open source, and sync works through your own Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV or S3. Joplin Cloud is optional. Only the browser web app, publishing and shared notebooks need it. |
| Features | BMarkdown with LaTeX equations, code blocks and Mermaid diagrams, links between notes, labels, a command palette, password-locked notes, and PDFs, audio and drawings inside a note. But version history, backlinks and plugins are only planned, for version 5. | AMarkdown or rich text, notebooks, tags and full-text search on every platform. Notes hold images, PDFs, audio, maths and diagrams. There's a web clipper, optional end-to-end encryption, plugins and themes, and Evernote exports import with their attachments. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. You install it and write, with no sign-up. Sync means picking a folder inside Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud or Syncthing yourself. | C4.1 from about 480 App Store ratings, under our line for a B. You pick and connect a sync service yourself. Encryption is off until you enable it on one device first, and a forgotten encryption password can't be recovered. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac and Linux, as installers or through Scoop, Homebrew, Flatpak and the AUR. Sync rides on a folder in Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud or Syncthing. No phone app in the stable release, though, and no web version. | AWindows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus a terminal app and clippers for Chrome and Firefox. It syncs through Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV or S3, and there's an extension API. The web app comes only with Joplin Cloud. |
| Best for | free Markdown notes kept on your own computer | free, open source notes synced your own way |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Beaver Notes and Joplin. How we grade
Where they differ
- Beaver Notes is free. Joplin starts at 2.40€ per month, billed yearly at 28.69€ (Joplin Cloud Basic).
- Only Joplin lists a web app.
- Only Joplin lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Joplin lists a browser extension.
- Joplin is self-hostable and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Beaver Notes also covers linked notes.
- Joplin also covers web clipper.
At a glance
| Beaver Notes | Joplin | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | 2.40€ per month, billed yearly at 28.69€ (Joplin Cloud Basic) |
| Free plan | The whole app is free and open source under the MIT license, with no account and no monthly fee. The project says it will stay free and takes donations. | The Joplin apps are free and open source, and can sync through your own Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV or S3 storage. Joplin Cloud is an optional paid service. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of the paid plans; cancel during the trial and you are not charged. |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Beaver Notes | Laurent Cozic |
| Price read from | raw.githubusercontent.com | joplinapp.org |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Beaver Notes
- People who want notes kept on their own device with no account
- Windows, Mac and Linux users looking for an MIT-licensed notes app
- Markdown note-takers who want math, diagrams and file attachments
Joplin
- People who want open source notes synced through their own storage
- Privacy-minded users who want end-to-end encrypted sync
- Leaving Evernote: its export files import with formatting and attachments
- Markdown writers who work across Windows, macOS, Linux and mobile
Worth knowing
Beaver Notes
- The stable release, 4.4.0, covers Windows, macOS and Linux only; the site says a mobile app is in the works and takes beta sign-ups.
- There is no hosted sync yet: you pick a folder in your own cloud or sync service. A hosted option, BeaverSync, is announced for later this year.
- Version 5 is a rewrite still in beta; real-time collaboration, version history, backlinks and plugins are planned for it.
- The docs say auto sync does not work on Linux folders mounted through GVFS.
Joplin
- End-to-end encryption is not on by default, and a forgotten encryption password cannot be recovered.
- Joplin Cloud and Joplin Server Business prices are listed in euros.
- On Joplin Cloud Basic you can join a shared notebook but not share your own; that and Email to Note need Pro.
- The browser-based web app and Joplin Cloud AI (beta) are available only with a Joplin Cloud subscription.
Key features
Beaver Notes
- Local Markdown notes
- Notes are stored on your device and written in Markdown, with LaTeX equations, code blocks and Mermaid diagrams. No account or server is involved.
- Note linking and labels
- Notes can link to one another, and labels typed with a # sort and filter them. Home and Archive views show notes as cards that can be bookmarked.
- Command Prompt
- A command palette, available on every page, searches notes by title, content or label and runs commands such as opening settings.
- Locked notes
- A note can be locked with a password, which encrypts its content until the password is entered again.
- Files, audio and drawings
- PDFs, presentations, images and audio can be placed inside notes, and sketches or handwritten sections can be inserted as drawings.
- Sync through your own storage
- Sync works by choosing a folder inside a service such as Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud or Syncthing, with an auto-sync option or manual sync buttons.
Joplin
- Markdown notes and to-dos
- Notes and to-dos are written in Markdown or a rich text editor, organized into notebooks with tags, and found through full-text search on every platform.
- Multimedia, math and diagrams
- Notes can hold images, videos, PDFs and audio files, and math expressions and diagrams are created inside the app.
- Sync through a service you choose
- Notes synchronize through Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, S3 or the local file system, and switching from one service to another is supported.
- End-to-end encryption
- Synchronized notes can be end-to-end encrypted so that the sync service cannot read them. It is off by default and has to be enabled on one device first.
- Web clipper
- Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox save web pages and screenshots as notes.
- Plugins, themes and publishing
- Plugins, custom themes and an extension API change how the app works. With Joplin Cloud, a note can be published to a URL and notebooks shared for collaboration.
Plans
Beaver Notes
Beaver Notes$0
The full desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, as installers or through Scoop, Homebrew, Flatpak and the AUR.
Joplin
Joplin appFree
The open source desktop, mobile and terminal apps, with sync through third-party storage and optional end-to-end encryption.
Joplin Cloud Basic2.99€
per month, or 28.69€ per year (2.40€ / month)
2 GB of storage and 10 MB per note or attachment, with note publishing, the web app and Joplin Cloud AI (beta). Can join shared notebooks only.
Joplin Cloud Pro5.99€
per month, or 57.48€ per year (4.79€ / month)
30 GB of storage and 200 MB per note or attachment, plus sharing notebooks, Email to Note and a custom publishing banner.
Joplin Cloud Pro 100 GB9.99€
per month, or 95.88€ per year (7.99€ / month)
Everything in Pro with 100 GB of storage space.
Joplin Cloud Teams7.99€
per user / month, or 80.28€ per user / year; minimum 2 users
50 GB of storage, with multi-user management, consolidated billing, share permissions and priority support.
Joplin Server Business3.33€
per user / month for 2-10 users, billed annually (40.00€)
Self-hosted server with source code available and no storage or attachment limits. 2.92€ per user for 11-50 users, 2.50€ beyond that.
Ways to pay less
Beaver Notes
No public discounts listed.
Joplin
- Annual discount
Roughly 16% to 20% lower price when paying yearly
Basic works out to 2.40€ a month on yearly billing against 2.99€ monthly, Pro to 4.79€ against 5.99€, and Teams to 6.69€ per user against 7.99€.
- Education
50% Education Discount for students and teachers
Students and teachers who write in from a school or university email address get 50% off Joplin Cloud for a year, renewable for as long as they remain in education.
