do they provide productivity?

A random-ish bunch of (personal) knowledge management related software I have tried, would like to try, or decided not to try. With comments.

Writing, organizing, note-taking. Best or most interesting towards the top.

alo
aloList by alo, last updated 
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  1. Obsidian icon
     Like

    super super interesting. Interlinking and the automatic reference collection look nice. Gotta test. Basically free but not FOSS, sadly.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Snapcraft
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Flathub
    • Safari
    • Mozilla Firefox
    Obsidian screenshot 1
    Obsidian screenshot 1
    Obsidian screenshot 2
    +4
    Obsidian screenshot 3
  2. For Mac, written in Swift. Not js, which is good. Not tested (yet) but seems to have the right features, i.e. nice formatting incl. latex and sidebar.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Pine Markdown Editor screenshot 1
    Pine Markdown Editor screenshot 1
  3. A proper personal wiki!

    Oh I wish this was properly available on Mac.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Google Chrome
    • Cloudron
    • Mozilla Firefox
    Trilium Notes screenshot 1
    Trilium Notes screenshot 1
    Trilium Notes screenshot 2
    +9
    Trilium Notes screenshot 3
  4. Notion icon
     Like

    Looks promising with all the fuss. The basic features and use cases tickle me the right way but I've been putting on my tinfoil hat lately. The only option is to store all the information in the cloud and I'm not willing to put my life's invaluable information solely there. Then there's the privacy question with US servers.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Notion screenshot 1
    Notion screenshot 1
    Notion screenshot 2
    +14
    Notion screenshot 3
  5. StackEdit icon
     Like

    a browser editor. Looks polished and no-nonsense, though. With a quick try, I'm intrigued, but cautious.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    • Google Chrome
    StackEdit 5 - Split interface (Dark)
    StackEdit screenshot 1
  6. Skrifa icon
     Like

    With the encryption schema sounds like Standard Notes but a bit more polished/fancy UI. Even a PGP option! FOSS. Not tested.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Google Chrome
    Skrifa screenshot 1
    Skrifa screenshot 1
    Login Screen
    +5
    Notes and Notebooks
  7. Zettlr icon
     Like

    Looks it can organize and, what's important, interlink notes. Tested it for a while some time ago, there was probably something with how the notes were displayed/organized.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Zettlr Main Window (dark mode)
    Zettlr Main Window (light mode)
    The Berlin Theme (dark mode)
    +5
    The Berlin Theme (light mode)
  8. Joplin icon
     Like

    Interesting piece of software. Tried once shortly, should test it more.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • AppImageHub
    • Snapcraft
    • Google Chrome
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • F-Droid
    • Cloudron
    • Homebrew
    • Chocolatey
    • Termux
    • Mozilla Firefox
    • Online
    Desktop and mobile apps
    Example
    Cli version!
    +3
    Table inside table with KaTeX Math notations.
(Live-editing with Vim)
  9. Used it for a while. Really not bad and I like the design philosophy, but the UX wasn't that great on Mac. Migrated to Nextcloud Notes to be more accessible and easily editable using independent markdown editor.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    Standard Notes screenshot 1
    Free version.
    Cross-platform sync and end-to-end privacy
    +4
    Extensions and Themes
  10. Bear icon
     Like

    Nice app per se but the editor felt sluggish (some time ago) and was migrated to Standard Notes.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Bear screenshot 1
    Bear screenshot 1
    Bear screenshot 2
    +5
    Bear screenshot 3
  11. Looks nice and would like to test it, sadly there was no readily available app bundle for Mac. C++ sounds like quickness.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    ghostwriter screenshot 1
    ghostwriter screenshot 1
    ghostwriter screenshot 2
    +1
    ghostwriter screenshot 3
  12. Typora icon
     Like

    I think I tried this once and there was something why it didn't stick. Also, it's free only during the beta (in which it has been for a while already).

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Electron
    Typora screenshot 1
    Typora screenshot 1
    Typora screenshot 2
    +4
    Typora screenshot 3
  13. Nice colors, but Electron/js make it probably needlessly heavy. Not tested.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Electron / Atom Shell
    Inline preview as you type
    Preview images, math formulas, todo lists and iframes (such as Youtube videos)
    Code coloration
    +2
    Spell checker
  14. I think I tried this almost a decade ago. Can't say much more.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    FocusWriter screenshot 1
    Themes
    Modify theme
    +7
    Set timer
  15. Ulysses icon
     Like

    Tried and almost bought it some time ago. There was something now inarticulable missing or wrong, maybe related to note organization or file format (and iCloud lock-in). Therefore didn't feel matching its price tag.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Ulysses screenshot 1
    Ulysses screenshot 1
    Ulysses screenshot 2
    +5
    Ulysses screenshot 3
  16. The UI is terrible. Really. I can't understand wth has thought the Ribbon thing ever was a good idea anyway. The best thing (in some cases) is WYSIWYG and the ability to create complex-ish content (such as tables with colors). In the process of migrating away. The tables get probably replaced with plain Sheets.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Windows Phone
    • iPad
    • Apple Watch
    • Android Wear
    • Kindle Fire
    Microsoft OneNote screenshot 1
    Microsoft OneNote screenshot 1
    Microsoft OneNote screenshot 2
    +4
    Microsoft OneNote screenshot 3

Well, some did provide productivity, some didn't stick. Current go-to solution for general writing, outlining, drafting, and note-taking is Nextcloud Notes with a third party editor.

Actually, I put todo-notes usually directly into my calendar so they get eventually done. For the quick and tiny things, Google Keep is surprisingly good.

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Gu