# CherryTree

> Hierarchical desktop notes with rich text and code highlighting

CherryTree is a free, open-source desktop note-taking app that arranges notes as nodes in a tree. Each node holds rich text, images, tables, embedded files or code with syntax highlighting, and a document is saved either as a single XML or SQLite file or as multiple files and folders. It is released under the GPL version 3 or later and has builds for Linux, Windows and macOS.

- **Category:** Note-Taking Apps
- **Made by:** Giuseppe Penone and Evgenii Gurianov
- **Website:** https://www.giuspen.net/cherrytree/
- **Runs on:** Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 9, 2026

## Pricing

CherryTree is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** Free software under the GNU GPL version 3 or later. Every download on the project page is free; the site only links to a donation page.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CherryTree | $0 | The full app as a Windows installer or portable archive, Linux packages (PPA, .deb, AppImage, Flatpak, Snap) and a macOS installer. |

Read from https://www.giuspen.net/cherrytree/ on Oct 9, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with CherryTree before buying.

## Key features

- **Tree of nodes:** Notes are nodes that nest to any depth and can be rearranged by drag and drop. Text and images can link to other nodes, anchors, files, folders and web pages.
- **Rich text and code:** Rich text nodes sit alongside code nodes and codeboxes with syntax highlighting, and code can be run through a configurable terminal command.
- **Images, tables, files and math:** Inserts images that can be resized and rotated, simple tables with CSV import and export, embedded files and rendered LaTeX equations.
- **Single-file or multi-file storage:** A document is one XML or SQLite file, or a set of files and directories. Single-file documents can be password protected using 7-Zip.
- **Import and export:** Imports HTML, plain text and files from apps such as KeepNote, Zim, Tomboy, NoteCase and KeyNote, and exports to HTML, plain text and PDF.
- **Find and replace across the tree:** Searches or replaces within one node, a node and its subnodes, or every node, and can build a table of contents from headings.

## Good for

- Keeping structured notes and code snippets in one local file
- Linux, Windows and macOS users who want the same notebook app on each
- Moving notes out of older outliners such as KeepNote, Tomboy or Zim

## Worth knowing

- There is no official mobile app; the project page points to SourCherry, a third-party Android project.
- Password protection is available only for single-file storage, and an unprotected copy is extracted to a temporary folder while the document is open.
- Tables are limited to cells of plain text.
- The project page describes the online user manual as old and discontinued.

**Tags:** Open source, Local-first, Works offline, Notes

## Alternatives

- [Zim](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zim): Desktop wiki that keeps linked pages as plain text files. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cherrytree-vs-zim)
- [KeyNote NF](https://toolgpa.com/tools/keynote-nf): Open-source tabbed notebook for Windows with tree notes. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cherrytree-vs-keynote-nf)
- [NoteCase Pro](https://toolgpa.com/tools/notecase-pro): Cross-platform outliner and note manager with Lua scripting. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cherrytree-vs-notecase-pro)
- [Trilium Notes](https://toolgpa.com/tools/trilium-notes): Free, open-source hierarchical notes for a personal knowledge base. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cherrytree-vs-trilium-notes)
- [RightNote](https://toolgpa.com/tools/rightnote): Windows note organizer with pages, trees and several note types. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cherrytree-vs-rightnote)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 9, 2026:

- https://www.giuspen.net/cherrytree/
- https://github.com/giuspen/cherrytree
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/giuspen/cherrytree/master/license.txt

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/cherrytree
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).