This open-source app does what Google Keep refuses to — and it’s free

Google Keep is great until you need it to do anything more than simple sticky notes. I used the app for years, but I became increasingly frustrated with its organizational features and limited note-editing tools. I also became more hesitant to use the app for any sensitive information, given Google’s privacy track record.

I eventually ditched Google Keep in favor of more privacy-centric note-taking apps that offered both simplicity and the flexibility I needed. And one solution in particular — Notesnook — offered everything that Google Keep lacked.

Encryption by default

Privacy by design

While there are self-hosted notes apps that can provide a more private experience than Big Tech solutions, the reality is that these services are not viable for non-tech-savvy users or those without the hardware to host their own servers. But Notesnook offers end-to-end encrypted note syncing for everyone — including its free users.

According to Google Support, the company doesn’t use the data from Keep for advertising purposes. But given Google’s extensive investment in generative AI, as well as its track record of using user data to train its models, I prefer that the company have no access to my notes at all.

With Notesnook, you don’t have to worry about the company accessing your notes. It also has other privacy features, such as the ability to lock specific notes. This is handy when you want to add an extra layer of security to certain notes and information. With the mobile app, you can enable biometric access to locked notes once you unlock them with a password.

Flexible note editing

Choose the editor that matches your style

When it comes to note-taking, I prefer using a rich text editor. This allows me to easily apply formatting without needing to remember specific syntax. However, other people prefer a Markdown editor. Notesnook allows you to choose between them. You can also add checklists and tables to your notes, along with images and other attachments.

This flexible editing has really made the app incredibly useful for my quick notes. Sometimes I create backups of my article drafts, in which case a rich text editor helps to preserve the formatting. I use checklists for my shopping and packing lists.

Tables come in handy when I need to organize information for direct comparisons. It’s also useful when I need to copy over a checklist or table from another site, which I did for my Ark: Survival Evolved achievements tracking.

Google Keep, on the other hand, has a limited set of tools for editing notes. The essentials are there, such as checklists, bullet lists, headings, and bold, italic, and underlined text. But these tools aren’t enough for more complex note-taking. The small window Google Keep provides when editing and creating notes also makes it difficult to add longer paragraphs or text. Eventually, there comes a point where it’s just not enough.

Robust organizational features

Your notes don’t have to be a mess

While I used Google Keep for years for simple note-taking, its lack of organizational features became apparent as my note collection grew. You can change the color of notes, pin them, and label them to make them easier to filter. But if you have dozens of notes, these tools just aren’t enough to prevent clutter.

My collection of notes in Notesnook has been growing over the past few months, but I’m finding it much easier to keep them organized. Like Keep, Notesnook has labels (though they’re called tags). But it also has specific Notebooks.

This means that you can organize your notes in multiple ways. Notebooks essentially act as folders, while tags act as filters. For example, I created a Notebook called Work, and then added specific tags for the sites each note related to — for example, XDA. Notesnook allows you to switch between views for all notes (with pinned notes at the top), Favorites, Notebooks, and Tags. You can also set shortcuts for specific tags and Notebooks so that you can access them from the default sidebar.

I admit that I miss Google Keep’s sticky notes view and color-coding, but with Notesnook, my notes are more organized overall. There’s no point in having a collection of notes that look nice with bright colors, but you’re overwhelmed by the number you have, with limited views and filters to switch between.

Notesnook helped me ditch Google Keep

If you still want a sticky notes view in an open-source option, you should consider self-hosted apps like Jotty Page or Poznote (which recently updated to include a sticky notes view). However, if privacy, flexible note editing, and organization features matter to you, then Notesnook is a great alternative to Keep. I currently switch between self-hosted options and Notesnook so that I don’t have to use Google Keep — except for the occasional list that Gemini creates.