NoteCase Pro vs Zim
We give NoteCase Pro and Zim the same GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0. NoteCase Pro grades higher on features. Zim grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
NoteCase Pro
Cross-platform outliner and note manager with Lua scripting
How we grade them
| 3.4GPANoteCase ProVery good | 3.4GPAZimVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AAll one-time. €7 buys the exact current version on one operating system, €17 covers one major version, and lifetime is €37 for one system or €67 for all of them, Android included. Even the dearest is about a year of a typical $5.99 a month plan here. | AIt's free. Zim is open source under the GPL 2.0, and its download page lists no paid edition. Paid note apps typically start at about $5.99 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | BThere's a free Lite mode, but only on Android, and it drops encrypted documents, attachments, search and sorting. That's tight. On desktop you get a 30-day trial with everything switched on, and then you need a licence. | AThe whole desktop wiki is free on Linux, Windows and macOS, plugins included. There's no paid tier, so nothing is held back. |
| Features | AA tree you can reorder, with cloned branches that stay in step. Rich text, pictures and attachments saved inside the document. Tasks with due dates and repeats, tags, encrypted formats, sync, and import from more than 30 formats. Then Lua scripts and plugins with several hundred commands on top. | BPages nest like an outline, links are tracked in both directions, and plugins add a task list, an equation editor and calendar pages for a journal. Solid. But notebooks have no encryption or password, and the FAQ sends you to an outside tool for that. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating to go on, so a B is our ceiling. The app itself is an install. The buying is the fiddly part: you pick between six licence types, and the key is emailed by the developer personally, which can take up to 24 hours. | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. There's an installer for Windows and an app for macOS, and most Linux distributions package it. Link to a page that doesn't exist and Zim makes it for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, macOS, Linux and several BSD and Solaris systems, plus a separate Android edition that reads the same files. Lua scripting and a built-in MCP server let other things talk to it. No iPhone or web version, and the Android app has fewer features. | BWindows, macOS and Linux, and the version control plugin talks to Git, Mercurial or Bazaar. No phone or web version. Syncing means copying the notebook folder with something like Dropbox. |
| Best for | one scriptable outliner across Windows, Mac and Linux | 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: NoteCase Pro and Zim. How we grade
Where they differ
- NoteCase Pro starts at $5 one-time for Android; desktop licenses start at €7 one-time. Zim is free.
- Only NoteCase Pro lists an Android app.
- NoteCase Pro can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Zim is open source, according to its own site.
- NoteCase Pro also covers templates.
- Zim also covers linked notes, wiki and daily notes.
At a glance
| NoteCase Pro | Zim | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $5 one-time for Android; desktop licenses start at €7 one-time | Free |
| Free plan | Android only: a free Lite mode without encrypted documents, attachments, search or sorting. The desktop edition needs a license after its 30-day trial. | 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 | 30-day free trial of the desktop edition with all features enabled | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Miroslav Rajčić | Jaap Karssenberg |
| Price read from | notecasepro.com | zim-wiki.org |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
NoteCase Pro
- People who want one outliner on Windows, macOS and Linux
- Writers who outline and draft long documents in a tree
- Users who like to script their notes program
Zim
- A personal wiki or scratch book kept as files on your own disk
- Daily or weekly journals and meeting or lecture notes
- People who want their notes under Git or another version control system
Worth knowing
NoteCase Pro
- The free Lite mode exists only on Android; on desktop a license is required once the 30-day trial ends.
- The cheaper licenses are tied to one operating system and to an exact version or one major version; only lifetime licenses have no version limit.
- The Android edition has a different code base with fewer features, and the site lists no iOS or web version.
- License keys are emailed by the developer personally, which can take up to 24 hours, and VAT may be added to the listed prices.
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
NoteCase Pro
- Outliner tree in tabbed documents
- Notes form a tree that can be reordered with the mouse, branches can be cloned so copies stay in sync, and several documents open in tabs.
- Rich text, images and attachments
- Notes take rich formatting, hyperlinks and embedded pictures. Any number of files can be attached and are saved inside the document file.
- Tasks and tags
- Any note can become a task with a due date, repetition and priority, and tags are used to filter and search notes.
- Encryption and sync
- Encrypted document formats are supported natively, documents sync note by note, and an SSL-encrypted private cloud on your own server shares them between machines.
- Lua scripting and plugins
- Scripts and plugins written in Lua automate the program through several hundred API commands, and an embedded MCP server connects notes to AI agents.
- Import and export
- Imports more than 30 file formats, including Evernote, XMind, TreePad and Tomboy, and exports to formats such as HTML, RTF and OPML.
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
NoteCase Pro
Android license$5
one-time, lifetime, Android only
Removes the Lite mode limits in the separate Android edition. Delivered as a license key file.
Exact version, single OS€7
one-time, single user
Valid only for the exact desktop version available at the time of purchase, on one operating system.
One major version, single OS€17
one-time, single user
Valid across one major version span, roughly two years of updates, on one operating system. €20 adds the Android license.
One major version, all platforms€27
one-time, single user
The same version span, with one installation allowed on each supported desktop operating system.
Lifetime, single OS€37
one-time, single user
No version limit, on one operating system.
Lifetime, all platforms€67
one-time, single user
No version limit on every supported platform, Android included.
Zim
Zim$0
The full desktop wiki for Linux, Windows and macOS, with its plugins.
Ways to pay less
NoteCase Pro
- Lifetime license
Lifetime licenses with no version limit
A lifetime license costs €37 for one operating system or €67 for all supported platforms including Android, in place of version-limited licenses.
- Other savings
Site licenses for companies
Site licenses for one major version cost €1,000 for up to 100 users, rising to €2,500 for unlimited users in one company. A lifetime site license is €7,000.
Zim
No public discounts listed.
