Joplin vs Marknote
We give Joplin a 3.6 GPA and Marknote a 3.2, out of 4.0. Joplin grades higher on features and platforms. Marknote grades higher on ease of use. 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
Marknote
KDE's rich text note-taking app that saves notes as Markdown files
How we grade them
| 3.6GPAJoplinExcellent | 3.2GPAMarknoteVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | AFree and open source, from KDE. The app page lists no paid edition at all, just a donate link. Paid plans in this category typically start at $5.99 a month, so there's nothing to weigh up here. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | AThe whole app is free, with no paid tier to bump into later. KDE takes donations if you feel like giving something back. |
| Features | 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. | BA formatted editor that saves Markdown, notebooks with their own icon and colour, wiki-style links, full-text search, quick sketches, and export to PDF, HTML and ODT. Solid basics. But there's no built-in sync, and subfolders have to be made in a file manager, not in the app. |
| Ease of use | 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. | BThere's no App Store rating to go on, so a B is our ceiling. On Linux it's a normal install from Flathub or your distribution's packages, and the editor is WYSIWYG, so you don't have to type Markdown symbols. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | CStable releases are Linux only, which on its own would be a D. Windows and macOS get nightly installers that KDE labels unstable, so we've gone one higher. There's no Android or iOS app, and the only hook-up listed is KRunner on the Plasma desktop. |
| Best for | free, open source notes synced your own way | simple Markdown notes on a Linux 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: Joplin and Marknote. How we grade
Where they differ
- Joplin starts at 2.40€ per month, billed yearly at 28.69€ (Joplin Cloud Basic). Marknote is free.
- 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.
- Joplin also covers web clipper.
- Marknote also covers linked notes.
At a glance
| Joplin | Marknote | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | 2.40€ per month, billed yearly at 28.69€ (Joplin Cloud Basic) | Free |
| Free plan | 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, open-source software from KDE under the GPL-2.0-or-later license. The app page lists no paid edition; KDE takes donations. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the paid plans; cancel during the trial and you are not charged. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Laurent Cozic | KDE |
| Price read from | joplinapp.org | apps.kde.org |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Marknote
- Linux and KDE Plasma users who want a simple notes app
- People who want notes kept as Markdown files in a local folder
- Writers who prefer a formatted editor to raw Markdown syntax
Worth knowing
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.
Marknote
- Stable packages are for Linux; the Windows and macOS builds on the KDE page are nightly installers described as unstable and meant for testing.
- The KDE app page lists Linux, Windows and macOS only, and mentions no Android or iOS app and no built-in sync between devices.
- Subfolders, added in version 1.6.0, cannot yet be created inside Marknote; they have to be made in a file manager.
- The Snap Store's stable channel shows version 1.3.0, last updated in April 2025, while Flathub carries 1.6.0.
Key features
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.
Marknote
- Rich text editor backed by Markdown
- Notes are formatted in a WYSIWYG editor with bold, italic, underline and strikethrough text, headings, lists, checkboxes, images and tables, and stored as Markdown files.
- Notebooks
- Notes are grouped into notebooks, each with its own icon and accent color and a count of the notes inside. Notes move between notebooks by drag and drop.
- Source mode
- Since version 1.5 a source mode shows the raw Markdown in place of the rich text view. Version 1.5.1 added syntax highlighting to it.
- Links between notes
- Wiki-style links, added in version 1.5, connect one note to another and can look up notes in other notebooks.
- Search and command bar
- Version 1.5 added full-text search and replace, and since version 1.6 the command bar searches for notes across all notebooks. A KRunner plugin opens notes from the Plasma desktop.
- Sketches and export
- A quick sketch dialog adds drawings to a note, and notes can be exported to formats including PDF, HTML and ODT.
Plans
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.
Marknote
Marknote$0
The full app for Linux through distribution packages, Flathub or the Snap Store. Windows and macOS builds are nightly installers that KDE labels unstable.
Ways to pay less
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.
Marknote
No public discounts listed.
