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疏影

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I tried 5 self-hosted note-taking apps for a year - here's what stuck

#software #tools #productivity

After 12 months and 5 different apps, I've settled on one. Here's my journey and the mistakes I made along the way.

The apps I tried

  1. Standard Notes - encrypted, minimal, free
  2. Joplin - markdown, local-first, free
  3. Obsidian - markdown, local-first, but paid sync
  4. Trilium Notes - self-hosted, free, hierarchical
  5. Logseq - outliner, block-based, free

What I actually do with notes

For context, I'm a software engineer. My notes are:

  • Meeting notes
  • Technical decisions (RFCs)
  • Code snippets / cheat sheets
  • Project planning
  • Personal journal

I write 5-10 notes per week. I need search. I need tags/folders. I need to access from phone and desktop.

Round 1: Standard Notes

Loved the encryption. Hated the editor — feels like Notepad from 1995. Markdown support is via plugins. The minimalist design is intentional but for me it was just friction.

Abandoned after 2 months. Too constrained for technical notes.

Round 2: Joplin

Great markdown support. Web clipper works. Mobile sync via Joplin Cloud or self-hosted Nextcloud. Open source. Free.

Stuck with it for 5 months. But the desktop client was slow on my Linux laptop. The database corruption warnings freaked me out. Search was meh.

Round 3: Obsidian

The gold standard for local-first notes. Plugin ecosystem is massive. Dataview plugin alone is worth switching.

But Obsidian Sync is $4/month, or you set up your own sync (which I did with Syncthing for a while). I got tired of syncing. Switched back and forth.

Used it for 4 months, off and on.

Round 4: Trilium Notes

Self-hosted, single file → single SQL database. Hierarchical notes. Scripting support. Looks dated but very powerful.

Stuck with it for 6 months. The hierarchical structure is genuinely good for projects. But mobile support is weak. The UI is functional, not pretty.

Round 5: Logseq

Outliner/block-based. Bidirectional links. Queries. Open source.

Tried it for 2 months. The block-based model is powerful but felt like a chore for long prose. Better suited for daily journaling than technical docs.

What I landed on: Trilium + Obsidian hybrid

For technical docs (this post): Obsidian with local files + git for version control.

For everything else (journal, project notes, working notes): Trilium self-hosted.

Why two? Each tool does its thing well. The friction of switching is less than the friction of one tool being bad at multiple things.

What I learned

1. There's no "best" notes app

Different tools for different jobs. Trying to find one app that does everything is a recipe for endless switching.

2. Local-first beats cloud-only for me

I want my notes to live on disk. Cloud sync is a feature, not the foundation. If the company shuts down (Bear, Notion, Evernote...), I keep my data.

3. Markdown is the lowest common denominator

All my notes are plain markdown files. Even if I switch tools, the files survive.

4. Don't over-engineer note structure

I spent 3 months trying to build the perfect PKM (personal knowledge management) system. Tags, links, MOCs, daily notes, weekly reviews... I was managing my note system more than writing notes.

Now I just write. Folder hierarchy. Tags. Done.

5. Self-hosted needs discipline

Trilium on my NAS is great. But if the NAS is down, I can't reach my notes. For daily access, that risk matters. I keep the most critical notes in a separate git repo synced to GitHub.

What I recommend

  • If you write code/dev notes: Obsidian. Best plugin ecosystem, best markdown, git-friendly.
  • If you write everything in long-form: Standard Notes (simple) or Joplin (markdown).
  • If you want self-hosted and don't need mobile: Trilium. It's free, powerful, and stable.
  • If you journal daily: Logseq. Daily notes + blocks fits journaling.

Cost comparison

  • Obsidian Sync: $48/year (paid)
  • Joplin Cloud: $60/year (paid, optional)
  • Standard Notes: $36/year (paid for cloud)
  • Trilium Notes: $0 (self-hosted)
  • Logseq: $0 (self-hosted or local)
  • Obsidian local + git: $0

I'm now spending $0/year on notes (Trilium self-hosted + Obsidian local + git).

What I gave up

  • Real-time collaborative editing (was on Notion before)
  • Beautiful mobile apps (Bear was gorgeous)
  • Integrations with everything (Notion, Obsidian have lots)

For me, none of those matter. For you, they might.

TL;DR

Tried 5 self-hosted note apps in a year. Settled on Trilium + Obsidian hybrid for different use cases. Lesson: stop chasing the perfect tool, pick one and write.

If you want to try any of these without setting up a server, Docker Compose makes it 30 minutes. Most have free tiers for hosted versions too.

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