CherryTree vs KeyNote NF

CherryTree

• Keeping structured notes and code snippets in one local file
• Linux, Windows and macOS users who want the same notebook app on each
• Moving notes out of older outliners such as KeepNote, Tomboy or Zim

KeyNote NF

• Windows users who want a free, open-source tree notebook
• Long-time KeyNote users who need Unicode and newer features
• Keeping selected notes encrypted inside an otherwise open file

CherryTree

• There is no official mobile app; the project page points to SourCherry, a third-party Android project.
• Password protection is available only for single-file storage, and an unprotected copy is extracted to a temporary folder while the document is open.
• Tables are limited to cells of plain text.
• The project page describes the online user manual as old and discontinued.

KeyNote NF

• Windows only: the project's SourceForge page lists Windows as its platform, and no other build is offered.
• The built-in backup keeps at most 9 recent copies made on saving, so the author advises keeping separate backups of .knt files.
• Its .knt format extends the old one: saving such a file in the original KeyNote 1.6.5 loses alarms and checked-node information.

CherryTree

Tree of nodes

Notes are nodes that nest to any depth and can be rearranged by drag and drop. Text and images can link to other nodes, anchors, files, folders and web pages.

Rich text and code

Rich text nodes sit alongside code nodes and codeboxes with syntax highlighting, and code can be run through a configurable terminal command.

Images, tables, files and math

Inserts images that can be resized and rotated, simple tables with CSV import and export, embedded files and rendered LaTeX equations.

Single-file or multi-file storage

A document is one XML or SQLite file, or a set of files and directories. Single-file documents can be password protected using 7-Zip.

Import and export

Imports HTML, plain text and files from apps such as KeepNote, Zim, Tomboy, NoteCase and KeyNote, and exports to HTML, plain text and PDF.

Find and replace across the tree

Searches or replaces within one node, a node and its subnodes, or every node, and can build a table of contents from headings.

KeyNote NF

Tabbed notes with trees

A file holds tabbed notes with a rich text editor and multi-level trees of nodes, and linked nodes can share the content of the same note.

Encryption

A file can be encrypted as a whole, or stay unencrypted while selected notes and images are encrypted, with a lock-on-opening option.

Find All and tree filtering

Find All shows excerpts with the matched words highlighted, can be limited to a node and its subtree or to node names, and combines with tree filtering.

Tags and text folding

Tags apply to notes and to fragments of text for filtering, searching and exporting, and blocks of text can be folded down to a short excerpt.

Image management

Handles GIF, PNG, JPG, TIF, BMP, WMF, EMF and ICO images, stored inside the file or externally in a zip or folder, with a built-in viewer.

Checkboxes, alarms and export

Tree nodes can show checkboxes, carry alarms and be hidden once checked, and notes export to a printer or PDF with a table of contents.

CherryTree

• CherryTree$0

  The full app as a Windows installer or portable archive, Linux packages (PPA, .deb, AppImage, Flatpak, Snap) and a macOS installer.

KeyNote NF

• KeyNote NF$0

  The full Windows program, downloaded from the project's GitHub releases with a setup program.