Notejoy vs Standard Notes (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Notejoy if

• Fits if a small team wants one shared notebook for meeting notes
• Works for schools and nonprofits buying several seats

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: 5 notebooks, 10MB per file and 100MB of storage
• Skip it if you need offline access or note history, which are paid only
• Watch out: end-to-end encryption, including attachments, is on a premium plan, so check which
• Not for you if you want to share on Solo, as it allows one user per library

Pick Standard Notes if

• Fits if you want notes that even the company storing them can't read
• Works for plain-text notes, since that part is free on every device

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want Markdown or folders without paying, as both need the $90 plan
• Pricey if you'd rather pay month by month, because only yearly prices are listed
• Not for you if you want a trial first, as there's none, only a refund within 14 or 90 days
• Watch out: files stored on Professional can't be viewed or downloaded once the subscription ends
• Watch out: when a plan lapses, notes in the paid editors go read-only until switched back to plain text

Notejoy

• The free plan stops at 5 notebooks and 100MB of library storage per library.
• Offline access, note history and end-to-end encryption are on paid plans only.
• The Solo plan allows only one user per library, so it cannot be used to share notes.
• The security page says full end-to-end encryption, including attachments, comes with a premium plan, so check which plan covers it.

Standard Notes

• The free plan is limited to plain-text notes; Markdown, rich text, spreadsheets and folders need Productivity at $90 per year.
• The pricing page lists yearly prices only, and there is no free trial; refunds are offered within 14 days (Productivity) or 90 days (Professional).
• Encrypted file storage comes only with Professional, and files cannot be viewed or downloaded after a subscription expires.
• When a subscription lapses, notes in the paid editors become read-only until switched back to plain text.

Notejoy

Shared libraries

Team libraries hold notebooks that several people edit together at the same time. The free plan allows 3 team libraries of up to 5 users.

Quick find and search

A quick-find box jumps between notes. Paid plans also search inside images and documents.

Web clipper and apps

Apps for Mac, PC, iOS and Android plus the web, with a separate web clipper for saving pages.

Document embeds

Notes link to Google Drive, Microsoft Office, Zoom, Gmail, Trello, Slack and HubSpot content.

Security options

Paid plans list end-to-end encryption, password-protected notes and two-factor authentication.

History and recovery

Paid plans keep note history and let you recover deleted notes and archive notes, notebooks or libraries.

Standard Notes

End-to-end encryption

Notes, tags and other data are encrypted on the device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before syncing, so the server stores only data it cannot read.

Note types

A note is plain text on the free plan. A subscription adds Super notes for Markdown, rich text, checklists and code, plus spreadsheets and an authenticator for 2FA codes.

Sync and offline access

Notes sync across unlimited devices on the web, desktop and mobile, and an offline copy stays available without an internet connection.

Revision history and backups

Daily encrypted email backups come with every plan. Note history covers the current session on the free plan, 1 year on Productivity and is unlimited on Professional.

Encrypted file storage

Professional includes 100 GB of encrypted storage for photos, videos and documents, with no file size limit (tested up to 2 GB) and offline file access.

Web Clipper and folders

Paid plans add a Chrome and Firefox extension that clips a full page, an article or a selection into a note, and nested folders built from tags.

Notejoy

• Free$0

  Up to 5 users per library, 3 team libraries, 5 notebooks, 10MB per file and 100MB of library storage.

• Solo$5

  per month, billed annually

  One user per library with unlimited personal libraries and notebooks, 5GB storage, offline access, note history and end-to-end encryption.

• Pro$10

  per user / month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)

  Unlimited team libraries and notebooks, 20GB library storage, 1GB per file, view and comment-only users, plus the Solo features.

• Team$100

  per month for unlimited users, billed annually ($150 billed monthly)

  All Pro features with unlimited users, user management and a team activity dashboard.

Standard Notes

• StandardFree

  Plain-text notes with end-to-end encryption, unlimited device sync, offline access, tags and daily encrypted email backups.

• Productivity$90

  per year

  Adds the Super note type for Markdown and rich text, spreadsheets, Daily Notebooks, folders, the Web Clipper, an authenticator and 1-year revision history.

• Professional$120

  per year

  Adds 100 GB of encrypted file storage, subscription sharing with up to 5 accounts, maximum revision history and hardware security key support.

Notejoy

• Annual discount

  Annual billing

  Pro is $10 per user a month billed annually against $15 billed monthly; Team is $100 against $150.

• Nonprofit

  50% off for nonprofits and schools

  The help center lists 50% off annual plans for qualifying nonprofits, NGOs and educational institutions. Multiple seats are required and it is not available to individuals.

Standard Notes

• Education

  30% student discount

  Students get 30% off any plan, except offline subscriptions, by emailing the support team from a student email address.

• Other savings

  Help for people who cannot afford a plan

  Standard Notes invites anyone facing economic difficulty to email support with their circumstances so a plan that works for them can be arranged.

• Other savings

  Discounted offline subscription for self-hosting

  Offline subscriptions, which unlock the paid features on a self-hosted server, are sold at what the vendor calls a steep discount from the hosted plans.