QOwnNotes vs VNote
We give QOwnNotes and VNote the same GPA: 3.6 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
QOwnNotes
Open-source Markdown notes app with Nextcloud and ownCloud support
Free
How we grade them
| 3.6GPAQOwnNotesExcellent | 3.6GPAVNoteExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and open source under the GPL. The project says it generates no revenue and runs on donations through PayPal, GitHub Sponsors and Liberapay. There's nothing to buy. | AFree and open source under the GNU LGPLv3 licence, with no account to create and no paid edition. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe full desktop app, the Web Companion extension and the Android app are all free. No paid tier exists, so there's no limit to run into. | AThe full app is free on Windows, Linux and macOS, with nothing held back. There's even a separate reduced build for Windows 7. |
| Features | AHierarchical tags, subfolders, [[Note]] links with backlinks, AES-256 encryption for single notes, and a browser clipper. With Nextcloud or ownCloud you can restore old versions and trashed notes and share notes publicly. Scripts install from an in-app repository, and there's a built-in MCP server. | ALive preview in place or side by side, with MathJax for maths and PlantUML, Graphviz and Mermaid for diagrams. Mind maps are their own note type, and PDFs open in a built-in viewer with highlight and drawing tools. Vi mode looks after the keyboard crowd. Notes export to Markdown, HTML or PDF. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating to go on, so a B is our ceiling. On a computer it's install, pick a folder, write. It gets more involved once you want sync, since the app doesn't sync by itself and leans on a Nextcloud or ownCloud client. | BNo rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. Notebooks are ordinary folders, so there's no database to look after. But VNote doesn't update itself: it only checks for a newer release, and you download and install each one by hand. |
| Platforms and integrations | BLinux, macOS and Windows, a Chrome and Firefox extension, and hooks into Nextcloud, ownCloud, OpenAI and Groq. The Android app is an APK from GitHub that needs a Nextcloud server running Notes, and the site lists no iOS app. That keeps it off the A. | BWindows 10 or newer, Linux as an AppImage, and macOS 10.15 or newer. The docs list no iOS, Android or web version. Notebooks sync through the built-in Git client, or through any folder-sync service such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud or Google Drive. |
| Best for | Markdown notes on a desktop, paired with Nextcloud | free Markdown notes in plain folders on a 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: QOwnNotes and VNote. How we grade
Where they differ
- QOwnNotes is free. VNote is free.
- Only QOwnNotes lists an Android app.
- Only QOwnNotes lists a browser extension.
- QOwnNotes also covers linked notes and web clipper.
- VNote also covers templates and mind mapping.
In commonFree planWindowsmacOSLinuxOpen sourceLocal-firstNotesMarkdown
At a glance
| QOwnNotes | VNote | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free and open source under the GPL. The project says it generates no revenue and accepts donations through PayPal, GitHub Sponsors and Liberapay. | Free and open source under the GNU LGPLv3 license, with no account to create and no paid edition. Packages for each platform are on the project's GitHub and Gitee release pages. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Patrizio Bekerle | VNoteX Team |
| Price read from | qownnotes.org | docs.vnote.fun |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
QOwnNotes
- Nextcloud or ownCloud users who want a desktop Markdown notes app
- People who keep notes as plain files that any editor can open
- Users who want to script and rearrange their notes app
VNote
- People who want Markdown notes as plain files with no account
- Vi users and others who work mostly from the keyboard
- Keeping a notebook under Git version control
- Large, deeply nested personal knowledge bases
Worth knowing
QOwnNotes
- The app does not sync notes or attachments itself; syncing across devices depends on a Nextcloud or ownCloud sync client or another file-sync tool.
- The Android app is installed as an APK from its GitHub release page and needs a Nextcloud server running the Notes app. The site lists no iOS app.
- The browser extension works only while the desktop app is running.
- Current builds need Windows 10 or macOS 13 or later; the older Qt5 builds cannot use the built-in updater.
VNote
- Desktop only: packages exist for Windows, Linux and macOS, and the docs list no iOS, Android or web version.
- The docs say VNote is for single-user note-taking, with no real-time collaboration and no managed, account-based cloud service.
- VNote does not update itself. It only checks for a newer release, and each new version is downloaded and installed by hand.
- Tags, attachments, the recycle bin and Git sync work only in bundled notebooks, not in raw notebooks that browse an existing folder.
Key features
QOwnNotes
- Plain Markdown files
- Notes are plain-text Markdown files in a folder you pick, so existing text files work without an import and any other editor can open them.
- Nextcloud and ownCloud integration
- Restores older note versions and trashed notes from the server, shares notes publicly, creates Nextcloud Deck cards and manages server to-do lists.
- Tags, subfolders and wiki links
- Hierarchical tags and note subfolders, plus optional [[Note]] links with autocomplete, heading anchors, aliases and backlinks.
- Web Companion browser extension
- A Chrome and Firefox extension clips selected text or a screenshot of a page into a note and manages bookmarks kept in notes.
- Scripting and AI support
- Scripts install from an in-app repository. Opt-in AI support takes Groq and OpenAI keys, and a built-in MCP server lets outside agents search and fetch notes.
- Optional note encryption
- AES-256 encryption of individual notes is built in, and scripts add Keybase or PGP as alternative encryption methods.
VNote
- Notebooks as plain folders
- A notebook is one directory of plain text files, mostly Markdown, with folders nested to any depth. There is no database, so notes can be copied, backed up or edited with other tools.
- Markdown editor with live preview
- In-place and side-by-side live preview, syntax highlighting and an interactive outline, with math rendered by MathJax and diagrams by PlantUML, Graphviz and Mermaid.
- Built-in Git sync
- A bundled notebook can clone, commit, fetch and push to a Git remote from inside the app, on demand or at a set interval, with a dialog for resolving conflicts.
- Mind maps and PDF annotation
- Mind maps are their own note type, edited on a node canvas. PDFs open in a built-in viewer with highlight, drawing and text-box tools, and the comments are saved beside the file.
- Vi mode and keyboard control
- Vi mode gives modal editing, and tabs, window splits, configurable shortcuts and a fuzzy search-and-jump entry box cover the rest from the keyboard.
- Export to Markdown, HTML and PDF
- Notes, folders or whole notebooks export to Markdown, HTML or PDF, and a custom command such as Pandoc reaches formats like docx and epub.
Plans
QOwnNotes
QOwnNotes$0
The full desktop app for Linux, macOS and Windows, plus the Web Companion extension and the Android app.
VNote
VNote$0
The full app for Windows 10 or newer, Linux (as an AppImage) and macOS 10.15 or newer, plus a separate reduced build for Windows 7.
