PrivacyNotes
Zero-knowledge notes, tasks, files, passwords and journal secured by a single 12-word recovery phrase, with no email or password required. The crypto core and database schema are published for audit. No subscription model.
Reviewed by Gabriel Bachmann
Replace today: Evernote Notion OneNote Google Keep
The Best Encrypted Digital Notebooks: Safe, Private, and Secure
Private alternatives to Evernote, Notion, OneNote, Google Keep, vetted against our public criteria.
Showing 10 of 10
Grouped by threat level
Covered Easy start and good defaults for everyone
Standard Notes
Free accounts come with a good set of features already, even in the long run if you are fine with plain text notes.
Joplin
Synchronize notes across devices, publish and collaboration are for paid subscriptions only.
Turtl
Free accounts come with storage of up to 50MB of note data and collaborate with 3 people each space.
Hardened Some setup and real gains for the willing
Memos
A lightweight self-hosted memo and note-taking app with a timeline-style interface, built on Go and SQLite, released under the MIT license.
Org-mode
A GNU Emacs major mode for keeping notes, managing to-do lists, planning projects, and authoring documents in plain text. Files are stored locally on Windows, Mac, and Linux; no account or cloud dependency required.
No matches for those filters.
How they compare
| Tool | Sync | Based in | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| | E2EE | Switzerland | Freemium |
| | E2EE | United States | Freemium |
| | E2EE | Pakistan | Freemium |
| | E2EE | United Kingdom | Freemium |
| | E2EE | Switzerland | · |
| | E2EE | Estonia | Freemium |
| | E2EE | · | Freemium |
 | Local only | · | Free |
| | Self-host | · | · |
| | Local only | · | Free |
Your notes are a running record of what you think and half-remember, and most note apps keep all of it readable on their servers. An encrypted notebook encrypts your notes on your device first, so the only readable copy stays with you and the company hosting it learns nothing. Some are managed services, others are local-first or self-hostable for people who would rather trust no server at all. These are the ones worth handing your second brain to.
Why most note apps can read your notes
Cross-device sync and server-side search usually depend on the provider being able to read your notes. That readable copy on the server is what powers the convenience, and it is also what a breach or a subpoena exposes. There is no setting that removes it without removing the features it enables. An end-to-end encrypted notebook like Standard Notes takes the other path: it encrypts each note on your device before it syncs, so the company stores text it cannot open, and the only readable copy lives on your own machines.
How we pick
Every notebook here is measured against our public listing criteria. For this category that means end-to-end encryption, an open-source client where possible so the encryption is auditable rather than a slogan, dependable cross-device sync, and export to an open format. We weigh jurisdiction as one factor rather than a hard gate, and we list only a notebook we would keep our own notes in. A few picks are self-hostable for anyone who wants to remove the provider entirely.
What to look for in an encrypted notebook
Start with end-to-end encryption, then check that the client is open source so the privacy claim can be verified. After that the practical features decide it: reliable sync that still works offline when the connection drops, plus export to an open format like Markdown so your notes are never trapped. A tool like Joplin leans into portability by letting you bring your own sync target, while a managed service keeps setup minimal. The unifying point is that the only readable copy stays with you, which is what separates these from an app that keeps your notes on its servers.
Are encrypted notebooks as good as Evernote?
For everyday note-taking, yes. Notebooks, tags, attachments, and quick capture are all here, and the import paths bring your existing notes across. The honest catch is that because the provider cannot read your notes, full-text search runs on your own device rather than instantly in the cloud, and a heavily nested database from another app may need rebuilding by hand. Most people find the day-to-day experience just as smooth once they are set up, with the meaningful upgrade being that nobody else can read along. Our Evernote alternatives and Notion alternatives pages compare the moves in detail.
How to switch
Export your existing notebooks and import them into the new app, then spot-check a few heavy notes for attachments and formatting before you rely on the move. A managed encrypted service like PrivacyNotes needs little setup, while a local-first option asks you to arrange sync yourself. Keep the old app in read-only mode for a few weeks as a safety net, and rebuild anything that depended on a proprietary feature by hand. Pairing a private notebook with an encrypted calendar keeps the rest of your planning out of a profile too.
Frequently asked
- Can I import my Evernote or Notion notes?
- Mostly, yes. Export from Evernote as ENEX or from Notion as Markdown, and these apps import that. Simple notes come across cleanly; heavily linked databases and attachments are worth a quick check after import.
- Do my notes stay encrypted when they sync?
- On an end-to-end encrypted notebook, your notes are encrypted on your device before they sync, so the provider stores text it cannot read. That is the core difference from apps where your notes sit readable on the server.
- Do encrypted notebooks work offline?
- Most do, and they sync when you reconnect. Local-first notebooks keep working with no connection at all, which is often a noticeable upgrade over a cloud-only app that needs the network to load.
- What is the catch with end-to-end encrypted notes?
- The main one is server-side search. Because the provider cannot read your notes, it usually cannot index them for you, so full-text search happens on your own device instead and a few rich features may be thinner than a cloud app. In return, a breach of the provider exposes nothing readable. Most people find that a fair trade for a running record of their thinking.
- Can I recover my notes if I forget the password?
- Often you cannot, and that is by design. True end-to-end encryption means the provider does not hold a key to reset, so the password or recovery phrase is the only way in. Treat that secret like the key to a safe and keep a backup of it somewhere secure, because losing it usually means losing the notes.
- Is a local-first notebook safer than a cloud one?
- It removes the server from the trust equation entirely, since the notes live on your own machine and sync is something you arrange yourself. That is the strongest setup for confidentiality, but it puts backups and device security squarely on you. A managed encrypted service is easier day to day and still keeps the provider from reading along, so the right pick depends on how much you want to run yourself.