Joplin Review: The Free Note App That Lets You Own Your Data

Joplin is a free, open-source note-taking app for every major platform. Your notes live as Markdown, sync runs through storage you choose, and end-to-end encryption is available on top of any of it. The trade-off is polish: you pick and configure sync yourself, and the interface feels more engineering-led than its commercial rivals.

Usama Mubeen · Founder and Editor

Published November 6, 2026 · 3 min read

The short answer

Key takeaways

Joplin is completely free and open source on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android.
Sync is your choice: Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, S3 or a local folder.
End-to-end encryption is optional and works with any sync target, but a lost master password cannot be recovered.
You get a complete notebook (Markdown notes, to-dos, web clipper, plugins) with no account required.

Our verdict

Joplin is the strongest free option for people who want a real notebook without handing their notes to a subscription service. It asks a little more of you at setup, and repays it with ownership, encryption and zero ongoing cost.

What works

Free and open source, with every core feature included
Runs on all five major platforms, including Linux
Sync through storage you already have, or Joplin Cloud if you prefer
Optional end-to-end encryption on any sync target

What does not

Sync is a decision you must make and configure yourself
Interface is functional rather than beautiful
Local notes are not encrypted at rest; encryption covers sync

Best for: Privacy-conscious note-takers, Evernote leavers, and anyone who wants a capable notebook that costs nothing and locks them into nothing.

On this page

What Joplin is
The sync menu is the point
Encryption, honestly described
Where Joplin feels thin
Pricing
Who should choose Joplin

Most note apps charge rent for your own thoughts. Joplin takes the opposite deal: the software is free and open source, your notes are plain Markdown, and sync is a menu of options rather than a subscription. This review covers what that deal looks like in practice, based on the project's published documentation and plans.

What Joplin is

Joplin is a note-taking and to-do application that runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, with a terminal version as well. Notes are organised into notebooks and tags, written in Markdown with a rich-text option, and stored in an open format you can export at any time. There is a web clipper for browsers, a plugin system, and import tools for Evernote and other apps.

Nothing about the core app requires an account, a trial or a payment. That alone separates it from most of the category.

Where rivals give you their cloud or nothing, Joplin asks you to pick a target:

Joplin Cloud, the official hosted option, with Basic and Pro tiers priced in euros (Basic starts at about 3 euros a month as published in November 2026).
Storage you already have: Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, any WebDAV service, or S3-compatible storage.
A local folder, if your devices already sync files some other way.

Setup takes a few minutes and one decision. For people who enjoy that control, it is the best sync model in the category. For people who want sync to be invisible, it is the moment Joplin asks more of them than Notion or Evernote ever did.

Encryption, honestly described

Joplin offers end-to-end encryption on top of any sync target. Turn it on, set a master password, and note content and attachments are encrypted on your device before they leave it, so the storage provider cannot read them.

Two honest caveats. First, encryption is off by default and must be enabled deliberately, ideally before you connect several devices. Second, it protects data in sync, not the copy sitting on your device, and a forgotten master password means unrecoverable data. That is the correct design for real encryption, but it must be understood before it is switched on.

Where Joplin feels thin

The interface is clear and functional, and nobody will call it elegant. Mobile editing has improved, but long-form writing still feels better in more polished (and usually paid) rivals. Collaboration is also limited: Joplin is built for a person's own notes, and sharing features exist mainly through Joplin Cloud, not as a real-time team workspace. Teams that live in shared documents should look at Notion instead; we compare it with Obsidian in our Notion vs Obsidian comparison.

Pricing

The app is free, full stop. Paid spending is optional and buys convenience:

Joplin Cloud Basic: from about 3 euros a month (published pricing, November 2026), for managed sync storage.
Joplin Cloud Pro: a few euros more, with more storage and note publishing.
Everything else: 0, including encryption and every sync target.

Prices change and are listed in euros; confirm current figures on the official plans page before budgeting.

Who should choose Joplin

Choose Joplin if your notes are personal, your budget for them is zero, and the idea of a company holding your archive hostage bothers you. Skip it if you need live collaboration or a beautifully designed writing surface and are happy to pay for both. For the large middle group who just want their notes safe, searchable and theirs, Joplin is the easiest recommendation in this category to defend.

How we evaluated this

This evaluation is based on Joplin's official documentation, its public open-source repositories and its official plans page, checked in November 2026.
We did not run timed benchmarks or long-term usage tests for this sample review, and we do not claim hands-on scores we did not earn.
Pricing and feature details are stated as published by the project; check the official site for the latest figures before deciding.

No vendor pays for placement or a better verdict on Ovatly. Where we have not used something hands-on, we say so and base our evaluation on published documentation and pricing instead of inventing experience.

Frequently asked questions

Is Joplin really free?

Yes. The apps are free and open source with no paid tier for features. The only optional paid part is Joplin Cloud, the project's own hosted sync, which starts at a few euros a month; syncing through your own Dropbox, OneDrive or Nextcloud costs nothing.

Can Joplin replace Evernote?

For most people, yes. Joplin imports Evernote exports, keeps the familiar notebook and tag structure, and adds Markdown and encryption. Heavy Evernote web-clipper users should test the Joplin clipper on their typical pages first.

What happens if I forget my encryption password?

Encrypted data cannot be recovered without it. Joplin is explicit about this. Store the master password in a password manager before enabling encryption on multiple devices.

Written by

Usama MubeenFounder and Editor

Usama Mubeen is the founder of Ovatly. He writes about AI tools, software and practical ways to get work done, and edits everything published here.

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