Anytype
Switzerland
Self-Hostable
Anytype is a local-first note-taking and knowledge app from Any Association, a Swiss association with its registered office in Zug. Notes, tasks, databases and chats are stored on the user's own device...
European Note-Taking Apps
Bear
Ireland
EU
Bear is a Markdown note-taking app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, made by Shiny Frog Ltd. The company is registered in Ireland and was founded by three developer-designers in Parma, Italy. Its...
Capacities
Germany
EU
Capacities is a note-taking and knowledge management app made by Capacities Labs GmbH in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Work started in 2020, a public beta followed in 2022, and the company is...
Craft
United Kingdom
Craft is a notes, documents and tasks app from Craft Docs Limited, a company registered in England with its registered office in London. Founder and CEO Balint Orosz tells the origin story...
Joplin
France
EU
Open Source
Self-Hostable
Joplin is an open-source note-taking application created by Laurent Cozic and developed since 2016. It has more than 56,000 stars on GitHub. Since 2022 a company called Joplin, based in France, handles...
Did we miss one? Feel free to submit a suggestion!
Submit SuggestionNote-taking apps collect ideas, meeting notes, research and task lists in one place. This page lists note-taking apps from European companies and projects. They suit people who want an alternative to Obsidian, to Notion or to Evernote, and who care about where their notes are stored and who can read them.
The apps at a glance
| App | Company base | Notable points |
|---|---|---|
| Anytype | Switzerland (Any Association, Zug) | Local-first, end-to-end encrypted, source available licence |
| Capacities | Germany (Freiburg) | Object-based notes, free and paid plans |
| Joplin | France | Open source, Markdown, end-to-end encryption |
| Bear | Ireland (team founded in Parma, Italy) | Markdown notes for Apple devices only |
| Craft | United Kingdom (London) | Notes, documents and tasks, free plan |
Local files, cloud or end-to-end encryption?
The main difference between these apps is where the notes live. Anytype keeps data on the device and syncs it encrypted. Joplin lets users pick the sync target, from its own paid Joplin Cloud (hosted in France) to Dropbox, OneDrive and other services, and encrypts notes end to end. Capacities, Bear and Craft are services run by their providers, and Bear syncs through iCloud.
Open source or not
Joplin is the open-source option in this group, and its maintainers state that the apps will stay open source. Anytype publishes its code under a source available licence, which is not the same as open source. Capacities, Bear and Craft are proprietary software.
Which app for which need
- Local-first notes, linked objects and databases: Anytype
- Typed notes such as people, books and projects, plus daily notes: Capacities
- Markdown notes, plugins and free choice of sync service: Joplin
- Simple writing on iPhone, iPad and Mac: Bear
- Notes, documents and tasks in one app: Craft
Teams that need a shared wiki rather than personal notes can look at knowledge management software and collaboration software.
A listing here is not a recommendation. Features, prices and storage locations change, so the provider's own page is the final source.