Inkdrop vs Joplin
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Inkdrop
Markdown note app for developers with encrypted sync
Joplin
Open source Markdown notes with sync through a service you choose
Where they differ
- Inkdrop starts at $8.31 per month, billed annually ($99.80 per year). Joplin starts at 2.40€ per month, billed yearly at 28.69€ (Joplin Cloud Basic).
- Joplin has a free plan. Inkdrop does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Joplin lists a web app.
- Joplin is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Inkdrop | Joplin | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.31 per month, billed annually ($99.80 per year) | 2.40€ per month, billed yearly at 28.69€ (Joplin Cloud Basic) |
| Free plan | None | 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 | 30-day free trial; charging starts once the trial has ended | 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 | Takuya Matsuyama | Laurent Cozic |
| Price read from | inkdrop.app | joplinapp.org |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Inkdrop
- Developers keeping technical notes in Markdown
- People who want encrypted sync across desktop and mobile
- Giving coding agents access to notes through MCP
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
Inkdrop
- There is no free plan; when the 30-day trial ends without payment the account is deactivated and local notes become read-only.
- Cancelling means deleting the account, which permanently removes the notes and images stored on Inkdrop's server.
- The built-in AI features need your own API key for Anthropic or an OpenAI-compatible provider.
- The editor is plain-text Markdown with no rich-text mode, and only images can be attached to notes.
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
Inkdrop
- Markdown editor
- Plain-text Markdown editing with slash commands, a floating format toolbar, code-block autocompletion and link pasting that fetches the page title.
- Rendering for technical notes
- The preview renders syntax-highlighted code blocks, Mermaid diagrams and KaTeX math for inline and block equations.
- Notebooks, statuses and tags
- Notebooks nest inside one another, and each note can carry tags and a status of active, on hold, completed or dropped that the note list filters by.
- End-to-end encrypted sync
- Sync between devices is end-to-end encrypted and notes stay available offline. A self-run CouchDB-compatible server can be used instead of Inkdrop's.
- MCP server and AI assistant
- An MCP server lets agents such as Claude Code search and read notes. The inline assistant and next edit suggestions run on an API key you supply.
- Keyboard control and plugins
- A command palette, per-context keymaps and a Vim plugin cover keyboard use, and plugins are written against a TypeScript API.
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
Inkdrop
Basic$8.31
per month, billed annually ($99.80); $9.98 billed monthly
The only plan, with everything included: cloud sync, an unlimited number of notes and 30 GB of storage.
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
Inkdrop
- Annual discount
About 17% less with annual billing
Annual billing is $99.80 a year, shown as $8.31 a month, against $9.98 a month on monthly billing, which totals $119.76 over a year.
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.
