Yes
Free tier
Unlimited notes and devices
Report
Should I Use Standard Notes?
End-to-end encrypted notes app promising privacy, security, and cross-device sync.
Depends
DependsBuy it if end-to-end privacy and minimalist plain text matter more than features — reviewers say it excels at exactly that.
Great encrypted plain-text notes; free tier is bare, paid plans feel pricey. Buy for privacy, skip for features.
Confidence: Medium
$120/yr
Top paid plan
Professional, per ZDNet 2023 — may have changed
Proton (2024)
Owned by
Acquired by the privacy company
XChaCha20-Poly1305
Encryption
Audited, zero-knowledge E2EE
Value for money
2
Ex-users say price rose without new features
Ease of use
5
Reviewers praise its deliberate, simple minimalism
Feature depth
2
Plain text core; extensions and richness cost extra
Security posture
5
Audited E2EE, open source, journalist-recommended
Pros
Cons
Gotchas
- mediumSubscription prices typically rise every year; existing subscribers historically grandfathered²
- mediumAnything beyond plain text — extensions, rich features — requires a paid plan³
- mediumProfessional ran $120/yr (2023 figure); some found the value lacking13
- lowSelf-hosting exists, but community reports say it still requires a subscription (~$39/yr)14
Best for
- Privacy-first individuals
- Journalists with sensitive notes
- Minimalist plain-text writers
- Multi-device note syncers
Not for
- Teams wanting collaborative documents
- Feature hunters wanting rich formatting free
- Subscription-averse users
- Notion-style workspace builders
Pricing
Free
$0
- Unlimited notes and devices
- Plain text only; no extensions
Professional
$120/yr (ZDNet, 2023)
- Everything in Productivity tier
- 100GB encrypted cloud storage
- Sharing with up to five accounts
Security
No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.
What users say
Users consistently praise the privacy and simplicity; complaints center on the limited free tier, bugs, and rising prices.
“It's plain, minimal, and almost painfully simple, and that's exactly why Standard Notes works better than anything else I've tried.”
“Yes, there is no other alternative with the same features together, but for this price and without new features, it doesn't justify the prices.”
“Standard Notes and Notesnook are both excellent note-taking apps with encryption, and that is a win for privacy.”
Alternatives
Compare Standard Notes with each alternative.
Notesnook
Open-source E2EE notes with sync and modern formatting.
Obsidian
Local markdown files; free, no forced subscription.
Microsoft OneNote
Richer formatting, cheaper paid tiers — less privacy focus.
Standard Notes vs Microsoft OneNoteFull analysis
Based on 15 public sources. Pricing figures partly dated (ZDNet 2023); verify current tiers on the official site.
Sources
- Standard Notes official sitestandardnotes.comofficial
- Standard Notes principles pagestandardnotes.comofficial
- Review: Standard Notes for End-to-end Encrypted Notesspin.atomicobject.comreview
- Standard Notes is the most boring productivity app (XDA)xda-developers.comreview
- Why I'm Sticking with Standard Notes (Privacy Dad)theprivacydad.comreview
- Standard Notes reviews (Capterra)capterra.careview
review
- Standard Notes reviews (Trustpilot)trustpilot.comreview
- Standard Notes (Google Play)play.google.comreview
- Secure note-taking apps for journalistsfreedom.presssecurity
- Reddit: goodbye Standard Notes reviewreddit.comreview
- Reddit: encryption at rest discussionreddit.comreview
news
- Forum: Proton acquires Standard Notesforum.endeavouros.comnews
- Privacy Guides: Notebooksprivacyguides.orgreview
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