CherryTree vs VNote
We give CherryTree a 3.4 GPA and VNote a 3.6, out of 4.0. VNote grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
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
How we grade them
| 3.4GPACherryTreeVery good | 3.6GPAVNoteExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIt's free software under the GPL, version 3 or later. Every download on the project page costs nothing, and the only money mentioned is a link to a donation page. | AFree and open source under the GNU LGPLv3 licence, with no account to create and no paid edition. |
| Free plan and trial | AAll of it is free: the Windows installer and portable archive, the Linux packages and the macOS installer. There's no paid tier to hold anything back. | AThe full app is free on Windows, Linux and macOS, with nothing held back. There's even a separate reduced build for Windows 7. |
| Features | BNested nodes, rich text, code with syntax highlighting, images, embedded files, LaTeX equations and find and replace across the whole tree. Solid. But tables only hold plain text, there's no sync of its own on the listing, and the online manual is described as old and discontinued. | ALive preview in place or side by side, with MathJax for maths and PlantUML, Graphviz and Mermaid for diagrams. Mind maps are their own note type, and PDFs open in a built-in viewer with highlight and drawing tools. Vi mode looks after the keyboard crowd. Notes export to Markdown, HTML or PDF. |
| Ease of use | BInstall it, make a document and start adding nodes. There's no App Store rating on record to go by, so a B is as high as we go. Don't lean on the manual, which the project page calls old and discontinued. | BNo rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. Notebooks are ordinary folders, so there's no database to look after. But VNote doesn't update itself: it only checks for a newer release, and you download and install each one by hand. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac and Linux, with a portable Windows build and Linux packages from PPA to Flatpak and Snap. There's no official mobile app. The project page points to SourCherry, a third-party Android project, and the listing shows no integrations. | BWindows 10 or newer, Linux as an AppImage, and macOS 10.15 or newer. The docs list no iOS, Android or web version. Notebooks sync through the built-in Git client, or through any folder-sync service such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud or Google Drive. |
| Best for | a free notes tree that lives in one file | free Markdown notes in plain folders on a desktop |
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: CherryTree and VNote. How we grade
Where they differ
- CherryTree is free. VNote is free.
- VNote also covers Markdown, templates and mind mapping.
In commonFree planWindowsmacOSLinuxOpen sourceLocal-firstNotes
At a glance
| CherryTree | VNote | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Free and open source under the GNU LGPLv3 license, with no account to create and no paid edition. Packages for each platform are on the project's GitHub and Gitee release pages. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Giuseppe Penone and Evgenii Gurianov | VNoteX Team |
| Price read from | giuspen.net | docs.vnote.fun |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 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
VNote
- People who want Markdown notes as plain files with no account
- Vi users and others who work mostly from the keyboard
- Keeping a notebook under Git version control
- Large, deeply nested personal knowledge bases
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.
VNote
- Desktop only: packages exist for Windows, Linux and macOS, and the docs list no iOS, Android or web version.
- The docs say VNote is for single-user note-taking, with no real-time collaboration and no managed, account-based cloud service.
- VNote does not update itself. It only checks for a newer release, and each new version is downloaded and installed by hand.
- Tags, attachments, the recycle bin and Git sync work only in bundled notebooks, not in raw notebooks that browse an existing folder.
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.
VNote
- Notebooks as plain folders
- A notebook is one directory of plain text files, mostly Markdown, with folders nested to any depth. There is no database, so notes can be copied, backed up or edited with other tools.
- Markdown editor with live preview
- In-place and side-by-side live preview, syntax highlighting and an interactive outline, with math rendered by MathJax and diagrams by PlantUML, Graphviz and Mermaid.
- Built-in Git sync
- A bundled notebook can clone, commit, fetch and push to a Git remote from inside the app, on demand or at a set interval, with a dialog for resolving conflicts.
- Mind maps and PDF annotation
- Mind maps are their own note type, edited on a node canvas. PDFs open in a built-in viewer with highlight, drawing and text-box tools, and the comments are saved beside the file.
- Vi mode and keyboard control
- Vi mode gives modal editing, and tabs, window splits, configurable shortcuts and a fuzzy search-and-jump entry box cover the rest from the keyboard.
- Export to Markdown, HTML and PDF
- Notes, folders or whole notebooks export to Markdown, HTML or PDF, and a custom command such as Pandoc reaches formats like docx and epub.
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.
VNote
VNote$0
The full app for Windows 10 or newer, Linux (as an AppImage) and macOS 10.15 or newer, plus a separate reduced build for Windows 7.
