Simplenote
595 likes
Made by the company behind WordPress, Simplenote enables users to take notes, lists, and ideas. These notes are stored on the cloud and are accessible across multiple devices.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Features
Simplenote News & Activities
Highlights All activities
Recent News
- Maoholguin published news article about Simplenote
Simplenote introduces email login and new shortcuts for iOS and macOSSimplenote has introduced a new email login feature. Users can now log in by entering their account...
Recent activities
POX added Simplenote as alternative to NoteGen
teamjsdev added Simplenote as alternative to NoteMover- xylopire liked Simplenote
- braky updated Simplenote
Mindnote added Simplenote as alternative to MindNote- Mindnote added Simplenote as alternative to MindNote
- thesuncitywitch liked Simplenote
j-simonazzi added Simplenote as alternative to Pivot.app
photopics_app added Simplenote as alternative to phoTopics- sweetemberxv liked Simplenote
Simplenote information
Developed by
Automattic Licensing
Open Source (GPL-2.0) and Free product.Written in
Rating
Average rating of 3.6Alternatives
79 alternatives listedSupported Languages
AlternativeTo Categories
Office & Productivity, Backup & SyncApple AppStore
- Updated Nov 4, 2024
- 4.76 avg rating
GitHub repository
- 5,015 Stars
- 575 Forks
- 239 Open Issues
- Updated Apr 30, 2025
Comments and Reviews
I see that there is a bit of misunderstanding about Simplenote and its licensing model. The Simplenote client is indeed free and open-source, under the terms of GPL v2. (See simplenote-electron on GitHub) It connects to server components that are also free and open-source. But Simplenote is more a service than an app; in the end, you entrust other people with your data in exchange for achieving mobility. That means you must study the terms of service.
All things considered, I like Simplenote.
Everywhere you turn, Simplenote is celebrated as wonderfully convenient and brilliant for productivity. Oh, and it's free, didn't you know? But in truth, it's not very private - at least in principle. Your information is stored with a 3rd party in a form they can read and which they can give away to others (in fact they have to if the NSA asks). In that respect, your Simplenote data is every bit as vulnerable as it is in Dropbox or Evernote (both of which have been hacked before: see here for Dropbox, here for Evernote).
The alternative is Turtl. All the same and - in many cases - better features and, crucially, it's end-to-end encrypted. That means your data is encrypted using your password (don't forget it!) before it leaves your computer. The server responsible for syncing and the admins responsible for Turtl can't read your notes. If hackers get it they won't be able to read your data. And if the NSA asks for it, it won't matter: it's encrypted.
Not convinced?
Things that Simplenote and Turtl BOTH have:
What Turtl has that Simplenote doesn't:
What Simplenote has that Turtl doesn't:
Compare the privacy policies: Here for Turtl, here for Simplenote. Then think about where you want your notes to live.
Turtl for Android has only "Semi-offline mode" while SimpleNote has the full-fledged offline. Turtl blog (http://turtlapp.tumblr.com/): Semi-offline mode is here, with one exception: you must be connected to log in to or join Turtl. Other than that, all changes you make to your profile will be queued up and synced to the server the next time you connect. Simplenote help (https://simplenote.com/help/): Can I search notes without a connection to the internet? Yes, using Simplenote for iOS and Android, you can search your notes even when you’re offline. Searching from our web app, however, currently requires a connection to the internet. Also, Turtl always shows you his icon in notification bar (i didn't found way to disable it)
Turtl can be self-hosted --- solving the "sync hosted in US" issue.
Isn't this supposed to be a review for simplenote not turtl
Whatever!
Well said. It seems Turtl is no longer being developed, but you can achieve the same thing with any open-source app by firewalling it and keeping the documents in a veracrypt folder (or other encryption service) inside or cloned to any cloud folder.
This would technically be safer than trusting how some writing app implements their encryption.
I cannot attach images? Sorry but this is impossible for me to use this :(
Thanks here to open this ways and be in the relation to update the wiriting doc in the small time to got the image Screen Ecran Agent user
Simplenote is missing simple functions such as selecting multiple notes. The help page shows how to select multiple notes. I have tried it on Firefox, Edge and desktop app but it never worked! Also, Simplenote desktop app is built on Electron, which is resource-heavy and slow. Simplenote is so terrible that Google Keep is more usable than this. Why Simplenote keeps being recommended is a mystery.
If you just need some something to store text quick, simple and smart, then simplenote is the way to get that done. Also, it is cross-platform (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, or in your browser).
Simplenote doesn't offer folders or subfolders, notebooks, sections, stacks, or other organizational tools. It does not have image or video attachment function.
It's all tag based navigation. I can't recommend it enough. I use this every single day.
I used Simplenote for 3+ years, but recently stopped using it. It meets my needs in almost every way as a simple note taking tool that houses "pending" notes I eventually move into more permanent locations like Google Drive and Workflowy. But I had to stop using it because of 1 recurring bug that has existed since I started using it. Every so often a note gets stuck syncing forever which causes my browser session to stop syncing overall. The note will never save and requires me to clear my session/cache to restore functionality. Ultimately, this led me to trust the service less and less because it was possible I could lose data. It was rare enough that I could work around it (maybe once per month), but I just couldn't put up with it anymore and moved off completely. Unfortunate because otherwise the app has worked great.