nb vs Zim (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Zim grades higher than nb: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
nb grades higher on features. Zim grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick nb if
- Fits if you live in a terminal and want your notes as files under Git
- Works for people who also save bookmarks and todos in the same place
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a window to click in, as it is command line and a local web view
- Skip it if you are on Windows without WSL, MSYS or Cygwin
- Watch out: some features need Pandoc, Chromium or Chrome installed
- Too light for sharing, as there is no phone app or hosted service
Pick Zim if
- Fits if you want a private wiki or scratch book as plain files on your own disk
- Works for a daily journal with a page per date, kept under Git if you like
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want your notes on your phone or the web, because it's desktop only
- Not for you if your notes need a password, as there's no encryption; the FAQ points to an outside tool
- Too light for a team writing together, since it's single-user and merging goes through version control
- Tight if you want sync, which means copying the notebook folder with something like Dropbox
- Watch out: the Windows installer is 64-bit only, and the Mac app supports Big Sur through Sequoia
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAnbGood | 3.0GPAZimVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AOpen source and free, installed from a package manager or as one script. | AIt's free. Zim is open source under the GPL 2.0 and its download page lists no paid edition, in a category where the middle plan wants $6 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no paid tier listed. | AThe whole desktop wiki is free on Linux, Windows and macOS, plugins included. There's no paid tier, so nothing is held back. |
| Features | BNotes, bookmarks with cached pages, todos, tags, wiki links, encryption, Git sync and a local web view, all from one script. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in that job. | CAs a wiki it's all there: pages nesting like an outline, links tracked both ways, attachments, HTML export, and plugins for a task list, an equation editor and calendar pages. Its own FAQ names the holes, though. No encryption or password on a notebook, no sync but copying the folder, and one person at a time. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. It runs in a terminal, and some features need Pandoc or a Chrome browser. | BNo rating on record, but there's nothing to set up: an installer for Windows, an app for macOS, packages in most Linux distributions. Link to a page that doesn't exist and Zim makes it for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | CmacOS and Linux programs, and on Windows only through WSL, MSYS or Cygwin. Works with Git, Vim, Emacs and VS Code. | CComputers only: Windows, macOS and Linux, with no phone or web version. The version control plugin talks to Git, Mercurial or Bazaar, but syncing is you copying the notebook folder with something like Dropbox. |
| Best for | plain-text notes and bookmarks in a terminal | a personal wiki kept as text files on your computer |
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: nb and Zim. How we grade
Price against what you get
nb has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zim has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
Zim scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other note-taking apps on the chart, none scores higher than nb for less, and none scores higher than Zim for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- nb also covers Markdown and bookmarks.
- Zim also covers wiki and daily notes.
In commonFree planmacOSLinuxWindowsOpen sourceNotesLinked notesTasks
At a glance
| nb | Zim | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | No price is listed; the project's GitHub page shows an AGPL-3.0 license. | Open-source software under the GPL 2.0 license. The download page offers the source, a Windows installer, a macOS app and Linux packages, and lists no paid edition. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | xwmx | Jaap Karssenberg |
| Price read from | xwmx.github.io | zim-wiki.org |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
nb
- It needs a Unix-like shell; on Windows it runs through WSL, MSYS or Cygwin.
- Some features rely on optional tools such as Pandoc and Chromium or Chrome.
- There is no mobile app or hosted service on its site.
Zim
- Notebooks have no built-in encryption or password protection; the FAQ points to an outside tool such as encfs.
- Zim is written as a single-user program, so shared notebooks rely on a version control system to merge changes.
- The download page covers Linux, BSD, Windows and macOS only, and syncing means copying the notebook folder with a service such as Dropbox.
- The Windows installer supports 64-bit systems only, and the macOS app supports macOS Big Sur through Sequoia.
Key features
nb
- Plain-text storage
- Notes are text files in Markdown, Org, LaTeX, AsciiDoc or any other format, written in the editor you choose.
- Git versioning and sync
- Notebooks are Git-backed, giving revision history and syncing through a Git remote.
- Bookmarks with cached pages
- Saved pages are stored as Markdown for local full-text search, with Wayback Machine lookup for broken links.
- Encryption
- Notes and bookmarks can be password-protected.
- Wiki links, tags and todos
- Items link with [[wiki-style]] links, take #tags, and can hold todos with tasks.
- Local web browsing
- A locally served web view lets you read notes and bookmarks in a terminal or GUI browser.
Zim
- Plain-text wiki pages
- Every page is a text file with wiki markup and images are ordinary linked files, so the content stays readable in other editors and file managers.
- Links in both directions
- Linking to a page that does not exist creates it. Zim tracks all links and shows, for each page, which other pages link to it.
- Hierarchical notebooks
- Pages nest as sub-pages in a folder structure, much like an outliner, and each page can carry attachments.
- Plugins
- Plugins add a task list dialog, an equation editor, calendar pages for daily or weekly journals, spell checking and a tray icon.
- Version control
- A Version Control plugin works with Git, Mercurial or Bazaar, which also lets several people merge changes to one notebook.
- HTML export
- Notes can be exported to HTML for publishing; the project's own website is written in Zim.
Plans
nb
nb$0
Open-source command-line tool installed from a package manager or as a script; no paid tier is listed.
Zim
Zim$0
The full desktop wiki for Linux, Windows and macOS, with its plugins.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, nb or Zim?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both nb and Zim are free to use.
Which has a free plan, nb or Zim?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both nb and Zim have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.