CherryTree vs Trilium Notes
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CherryTree
Hierarchical desktop notes with rich text and code highlighting
Free
Trilium Notes
Free, open-source hierarchical notes for a personal knowledge base
Free
Where they differ
- CherryTree is free. Trilium Notes is free.
- Only Trilium Notes lists a web app.
- Only Trilium Notes lists a browser extension.
- Trilium Notes is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Trilium Notes also covers Markdown and web clipper.
In commonFree planWindowsmacOSLinuxOpen sourceWorks offlineNotes
At a glance
| CherryTree | Trilium Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free software under the GNU GPL version 3 or later. Every download on the project page is free; the site only links to a donation page. | Entirely free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no paid tiers, accounts or feature paywalls. The project accepts donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Giuseppe Penone and Evgenii Gurianov | Elian Doran and the community |
| Price read from | giuspen.net | triliumnotes.org |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Trilium Notes
- People building a large personal knowledge base on a desktop computer
- Self-hosters who want sync on a server they control
- Tinkerers who want to script and extend their notes app
Worth knowing
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.
Trilium Notes
- There is no official mobile app; phones reach a self-hosted server through the browser or an installed PWA.
- There is no official hosted version, so syncing devices means running your own server or paying a third-party host such as PikaPods.
- It is designed for a single user: real-time editing of the same notes by several people is not supported.
- Notes are kept in an SQLite database rather than plain-text files, and are not encrypted unless marked as protected.
Key features
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.
Trilium Notes
- Hierarchical notes
- Notes nest inside other notes instead of folders, and a single note can appear in several places in the tree. Labels and relations add structure.
- Many note types
- Rich text, Markdown, code, spreadsheet, canvas, Mermaid diagram, mind map and file notes can be mixed freely in the same tree.
- Collections
- Display a group of notes as a calendar, table, kanban board, map, presentation or dashboard, and switch between layouts at any time.
- Sync through your own server
- A self-hosted server syncs notes across devices, gives access from a browser and can publish a subtree of notes as a read-only website.
- Scripting and REST API
- JavaScript runs in the app or on the server to add widgets and automate work, and a built-in REST API reads, creates and updates notes over HTTP.
- Protected notes and revisions
- Selected notes can be encrypted behind a password-protected session, and periodic background revisions let you review or undo changes.
Plans
CherryTree
CherryTree$0
The full app as a Windows installer or portable archive, Linux packages (PPA, .deb, AppImage, Flatpak, Snap) and a macOS installer.
Trilium Notes
Free$0
Every feature of the desktop apps and the self-hosted server, including sync, scripting and the REST API.
