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Recomendation for a note taking app

Hello everyone, I'd like your recommendations for a note taking app that:

  • Can be selfhosted
  • Stores the notes as plain text or *.md files, not some SQL database.
  • Can use Marddown format.
  • Have an android client or at least a mobile optimized web-interface.
  • Not a must but it would be nice to have a to-do list option.

I tried:

  • Trilium: use an encrypted litesql to store the notes.
  • Joplin: does not encrypt the notes, but store them in random named directories, making ot harder finding the notes.
  • Logseq: No firefox support, I did not check how it stores itsdatabase.
  • Standard note: Needs subscription to selfhost or to even use markdown format, otherwise it is a heavy text editor.
  • Memos: does not store plain files, instead uses a (sqlite probably) database even when setting local filesystem as current object storage.
  • CodiMD: use database to store its notes
  • Hedgedoc: the same as above
  • Silverbulet.md: This is what I will end up using if Obsidian + syncthing was not for me,It is minimal without losing much features and can be enhanced with plug-ins.
    . It does need a bit of getting used to and it does not have an android app but can it can be run as PWA that runs offline. The only downside is it does clutter your note directory with a bunch of dot files (if you decided to install plug-ins).

The closest I found so far is Obsidian, which:

  • Unfortunately, does not have any selfhosting option.
  • Have a client app on every platform and store.
  • Can use a custom directory to store it database as plain text files, which can be a network mounted directory (on my laptop/desktop) or a directory on my android phone that i will have to keep synchronized using a third party app.
  • I used "Remotely Save by fyears" which allows you to synchronize local obsidian note directory with a cloud directory (onedrive, dropbox, webdav...), It requires webdav for self-hosted options, kinda forcing you to use a 3th party service to run a 3rd party plug-in so you can use Obsidian with your home server directory. On top of that It can only use a folder on the root of the webdave server (say /notes instead of /documents/notes).
  • I used syncthing initially to sync my Notes directory but I ended up using it to keep a buch of directories in sync across all my devices. Leaving you to use whatever app you like on any device, not just Obsidian.

Edit: March-2nd: added memos, codimd, hedgedoc
Edit: March-9th, It has been a busy week and I could not do much. I added silverbullet and both syncthing adn remotly-save for obsidian. I'm using now Silverbullet and Obsidian+syncthing until I decide on one.
Thank you everyone who helped me choosing.

Drz ,

Dokuwiki with markdown plugin, or gollum wiki (or one of its forks) should meet the requirements

The1029 ,
@The1029@literature.cafe avatar

Another vote for Obsidian. I use it with the remotely-save plugin via WebDav and Nextcloud - completely self-hosted, I haven’t even made an Obsidian account. Sync conflicts are very rare, I’m using it on iOS and four desktops. While I wish it was OSS, nothing I’ve looked at even comes close to the flexibility of Obsidian. I’m using it for daily notes, habit tracking, task lists, and most recently to write a book.

lightnsfw ,

The closest one I've found to what I'm looking for in a note taking app is Obsidian. Really it kind of set the standard of what I need with how efficient it is to use. The only issue is syncing to my phone and tablet. I'm using Nextcloud and so far have only been able to get "read" access on my mobile devices. If I try to create/edit a note it gives me access errors that I haven't found a way around. This isn't a huge problem because I mostly reference notes on the devices anyway and am not making changes to them. Mobile note taking is typically done in my physical pocket notebook anyway.

UnixWeeb ,
@UnixWeeb@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

For syncing to multiple devices, I would recommend syncthing. Was pretty easy to set up and haven't had any issues.

kellenoffdagrid ,
@kellenoffdagrid@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I second this, my dumb-as-bricks setup for syncing obsidian notes is just running a Syncthing instance on a little Raspberry Pi I keep on all the time, and it works like a charm.

Dhrystone ,
@Dhrystone@infosec.pub avatar
talentedkiwi , (edited )

Lots of good suggestions. I've also used memos, but wasn't a huge fan of how the notes were organized. Solid app and definitely worth a look.

https://github.com/usememos/memos

Edit: I'm holding out hope for when notesnook goes self-hosted.

Edit 2: after looking at my older instance I see they save the notes in a database and is not relevant to your question.

crony , (edited )
@crony@lemmy.cronyakatsuki.xyz avatar

Honestly I just have a directory with markdown files I sync between my devices using syncthing.

For editing on pc I use neovim and for editing on phone I use markor.

fine_sandy_bottom ,

This. This is the answer.

Directory with markdown files and syncthing.

Use whatever editors on whatever device.

Libertus ,

Maybe you should try Anytype. It's Open Source, encrypted, has applications for major OSes, provides synchronization, allows export of documents to Markdown and PDF. Sometimes it's rough on the edges, but I think it has a potential.

jjlinux ,
@jjlinux@lemmy.ml avatar
TypicalHog ,

Obsidian without a doubt!

mrh ,
@mrh@mander.xyz avatar

Try Orgzly with Emacs Orgmode

waz ,

It's not exactly what I think you're looking for, but depending on what you are trying to do, maybe look at hackmd/codimd.

It's more like Google docs meets markdown formatting. It's goal is realtime collaboration but I've definitely used it for syncing todo lists with people.

Codimd is the self hostable version.

Oh, and I think there is a way to have it sync with a GitHub repo too, in case that is useful.

Links for convenience:

https://hackmd.io/#

https://github.com/hackmdio/codimd

mhz OP ,
@mhz@lemm.ee avatar

Looks great, I'm definitely checking it this weekend. Thank for the share

Fudoshin ,
@Fudoshin@feddit.uk avatar

Obsidian + private GitHub repo hosting

ryannathans ,

Silverbullet but you have to do your own authentication and TLS

Eideen ,
@Eideen@lemmy.world avatar

Privat gitea server.

lascapi ,
@lascapi@jlai.lu avatar

Do you have a markdown editor include with gitea?

Eideen ,
@Eideen@lemmy.world avatar

It can show Markdown and have preview of markdown.

It have highlighting of Markdown, but is not editor similar to Sync for lemmy.

lascapi ,
@lascapi@jlai.lu avatar

OK, thank you 😊

unlimitedbacon ,
@unlimitedbacon@kbin.social avatar

Check out SiYuan. It's an open source, self hostabole version of Obsidian.

It uses a database on the backend but editing is done in Markdown and it can import / export Markdown files.

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