# 🏠 Host Your Own Damn Notes: Stop Letting Big Tech Babysit Your Brain

**URL:** <https://onehack.st/t/host-your-own-damn-notes-stop-letting-big-tech-babysit-your-brain/311033>\
**Category:** Tools & Scripts\
**Tags:** programming, privacy, self-improvement\
**Created:** [September 24, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/host-your-own-damn-notes-stop-letting-big-tech-babysit-your-brain/311033 "2025-09-24T00:21:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jenna](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/jenna/32/166322_2.png) [@Jenna](https://onehack.st/u/Jenna)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/host-your-own-damn-notes-stop-letting-big-tech-babysit-your-brain/311033/1 "2025-09-24T00:21:29Z")

</div>

# 📚 20 Open-Source Note Apps for People Who Hate Themselves

Here’s the dumpster fire guide you didn’t ask for: note apps you’ll hoard, worship for a week, then abandon like your gym membership.

What the tables actually mean:

- **~GitHub stars** → Nerd upvotes. Basically clout tokens. Fake as hell.
- **License** → Legal bullshit. Either “steal me” or “get sued, loser.”
- **One-liner** → Baby-sized summary so your goldfish brain survives.
- **Platforms** → Where it runs. If it doesn’t run on your crusty laptop, cry in silence.

And yeah, those star counts? About as stable as your ex. Don’t trust them for a damn second.

* * *

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## 🤯 Brain-Melt Tier: “Feature-Rich” Flex Toys

| Junk Name | 🌟 Nerd Karma (~) | Legal Spellbook | WTF It Does | Runs On |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[Logseq](https://logseq.com)** | 32k | AGPL-3.0 | Roam cosplay with a paranoid corkboard vibe, keeps your mess offline. | Desktop, Mobile, Web |
| **[Joplin](https://joplinapp.org)** | 45k | MIT | Evernote’s cooler cousin that doesn’t suck and actually syncs. | Win, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android |
| **[Trilium Notes](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium)** | 27k | AGPL-3.0 | Russian-doll notes + encryption so tight even future-you can’t crack it. | Win, macOS, Linux, Web (self-host) |
| **[AppFlowy](https://appflowy.io)** | 57k | AGPL-3.0 | Notion but open-source, minus the cult tattoos. | Win, macOS, Linux, Mobile |
| **[SiYuan](https://github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan)** | 19k | AGPL-3.0 | Block fetishist’s dream with databases you’ll never touch. | Win, macOS, Linux, Web, Mobile |

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## 🛡 Privacy Cult: Notes for Paranoid Bastards

| App | ⭐ Clout (~) | License Crap | WTF It Is | Runs On |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[Notesnook](https://notesnook.com)** | 10k | GPL-3.0 | Locks your grocery list like it’s CIA intel. Works on everything. | Win, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web |
| **[Standard Notes](https://standardnotes.com)** | 5k | AGPL-3.0 | Minimal as fuck. Secure, boring, takes itself too seriously. | Win, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web |
| **[QOwnNotes](https://www.qownnotes.org)** | 4k | GPL-2.0 | Plain text nerd pad. Only fun if you’re horny for Nextcloud. | Win, macOS, Linux |

* * *

## 🧑‍💻 For Code Monkeys Who Write Feelings in Markdown

| App | ⭐ Clout (~) | License Crap | WTF It Is | Runs On |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[Foam (VS Code)](https://foambubble.github.io/foam)** | 16k | MIT | Turns VS Code into Roam cosplay. Has a “graph” you’ll stare at once, then never again. | VS Code (Win/macOS/Linux) |
| **[Dendron (VS Code)](https://wiki.dendron.so)** | 7k | Apache-2.0 | Hierarchy hell. Schemas for people who fetishize folder trees. | VS Code (Win/macOS/Linux) |
| **[VNote](https://github.com/vnotex/vnote)** | 12k | LGPL-3.0 | Markdown crack pipe with Vim controls for masochists. | Win, macOS, Linux |
| **[Kompad](https://github.com/hudy9x/kompad)** | 600 | MIT | Baby dev toy made with Tauri. Tags, themes, and hopes you’ll care. | Desktop, Web |

* * *

## 🎓 Nerd Notes: Academia Without the Student Loans

| App | ⭐ Clout (~) | License Crap | WTF It Is | Runs On |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[Zettlr](https://www.zettlr.com)** | 10k | GPL-3.0 | Lets you pretend your half-assed notes are “research.” Spits out LaTeX nobody asked for. | Win, macOS, Linux |
| **[Org-roam](https://github.com/org-roam/org-roam)** | 6k | GPL-3.0 | Roam knockoff inside Emacs. Requires wizard-level keyboard kung fu. | Emacs (Win/macOS/Linux) |
| **[Athens Research](https://github.com/athensresearch/athens)** | 6k | EPL-1.0 | Another Roam clone. Dead project. Congrats, you’re using abandonware. | Web/Desktop |

* * *

## 🧩 Weird Old-School Sh\*t That Still Works

| App | ⭐ Clout (~) | License Crap | WTF It Is | Runs On |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[TiddlyWiki](https://tiddlywiki.com)** | 8k | BSD | One HTML file that turns into a damn wiki. Feels cursed, still unbeatable. | Any modern browser |
| **[Notes (nuttyartist)](https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes)** | 4k | MPL-2.0 | Pretty little note app that just… stays on your computer like a pet rock. | Win, macOS, Linux |

* * *

## 🗺 Brain Vomit Maps & Doodle Apps

| App | ⭐ Clout (~) | License Crap | WTF It Is | Runs On |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[Freeplane](https://docs.freeplane.org)** | 900 | GPL-2.0 | Grandpa’s mind map tool with scripting no one uses. | Cross-platform (Java) |
| **[Mindolph](https://github.com/mindolph/Mindolph)** | 1k | — | Mind maps mashed with Markdown, PlantUML, and AI. Franken-app energy. | Desktop (Java) |
| **[Butterfly](https://github.com/LinwoodDev/Butterfly)** | 2k | GPL-3.0 | Notes + doodles = feels like drawing on your homework. | Cross-platform (Flutter/Web) |

* * *

## 🔎 Pick Your Poison (Zero-Bullshit Hints)

- **Conspiracy-board vibes:** [Logseq](https://logseq.com/), [Org-roam](https://github.com/org-roam/org-roam), Athens (already in a coffin)
- **Ex-Evernote addicts:** [Joplin](https://joplinapp.org/)
- **DIY hoarders & script junkies:** [Trilium](https://github.com/TriliumNext/Trilium)
- **Fake-Notion builders:** [AppFlowy](https://appflowy.io/), [SiYuan](https://github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan)
- **Paranoid note freaks:** [Notesnook](https://notesnook.com/), [Standard Notes](https://standardnotes.com/), [QOwnNotes](https://www.qownnotes.org/)
- **Code gremlins only:** [Foam](https://foambubble.github.io/foam), [Dendron](https://wiki.dendron.so/), [VNote](https://github.com/vnotex/vnote)
- **Academic masochists:** [Zettlr](https://www.zettlr.com/) (yes, it pukes LaTeX)
- **Customization hell:** [TiddlyWiki](https://tiddlywiki.com/)
- **Mind spaghetti drawers:** [Freeplane](https://docs.freeplane.org/), [Mindolph](https://github.com/mindolph/Mindolph), [Butterfly](https://github.com/LinwoodDev/Butterfly)

> **Note:** Stars = internet likes, not divine truth. They bounce around like crypto prices. Don’t be a dumbass—check the repo yourself to see if it’s alive or just a digital corpse.