Overview
Standard Notes is an end-to-end encrypted note app whose code is published as open source. The company says notes, tags and other app data are encrypted with XChaCha20-Poly1305, that its encryption has been audited by independent security researchers, and that it has operated for ten years funded entirely by paying users[19][20]. In April 2024 Proton, the Swiss maker of Proton Mail, announced that the two companies were joining forces, stating that Standard Notes would remain open source and freely available and that prices would not change[21].
The free Standard plan includes unlimited sync across web, desktop and mobile, offline access, tags, two-factor authentication and daily encrypted email backups[19]. Productivity, at $90 a year, adds Super notes, spreadsheets, daily notebooks, folders, an authenticator and a web clipper with one year of note history. Professional, at $120 a year, adds 100 GB of encrypted file storage, unlimited history, sharing with up to five accounts and hardware security key support[19].
The trade-off is cost and features. Paid plans are billed only yearly and cost more than Bear or Obsidian Sync, and the free tier keeps note history only for the current session. Encryption also limits server-side features such as AI search that cloud-first competitors offer.
Standard Notes features
- End-to-end encryption with XChaCha20-Poly1305
- Open-source code, independently audited
- Unlimited device sync on free plan
- Super notes, spreadsheets and daily notebooks
- 100 GB encrypted file storage (Professional)
- Hardware security key support
Standard Notes pricing
Standard: free. Productivity: $90/year. Professional: $120/year. Yearly billing only; refund windows of 14 and 90 days respectively. Dollar figures as displayed; currency not named.
Standard Notes strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Encryption by default on every plan
- Open-source, audited code
- Free plan syncs unlimited devices
- Long operating history
Limitations
- Paid plans billed yearly only
- Higher price than most Markdown apps
- Free plan keeps no history beyond the session
- Fewer AI and collaboration features
Appears in
Standard Notes alternatives and competitors
Alternatives to Standard Notes: companies ranked in the same lists.
Notion AI
Microsoft OneNote
Obsidian
Evernote
Apple- Google Keep
Goodnotes
Notability
Bear
Craft- Joplin
Logseq
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