zk Alternatives

zk is described as 'Plain text note-taking assistant meant for use alongside a separate text editor program' and is an app in the education & reference category. There are more than 25 alternatives to zk for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Linux, Windows, Android and Self-Hosted apps. The best zk alternative is Obsidian, which is free. Other great apps like zk are Logseq, Notesnook, Zettlr and Zim.

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Alternatives list

  1. Obsidian icon
     1113 likes

    Privacy-oriented note-taking app for non-linear thinking, blending knowledge graph creation with wiki-style linking. Supports Markdown, end-to-end encryption, and plugins for customization. Offers distraction-free mode, tags, themes, syntax highlighting, and operates offline without tracking.

    225 Obsidian alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Snapcraft
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Flathub
    • Safari
    • Mozilla Firefox
    • AppImage
     
  2. Logseq icon
     329 likes

    Local-first, privacy-focused notebook supporting Markdown and Emacs Org mode. Offers offline use, encrypted backups, plugin extensibility, LaTeX support, real-time collaboration, and hierarchical organization for personal knowledge management.

    196 Logseq alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Flathub
     
  3. Notesnook icon
     186 likes

    Offers open-source, end-to-end encrypted notes with device-based privacy, cross-platform support, private vault, secure sync, offline access, markdown editor, exports to multiple formats, automatic backups, organizational tools, and strong encryption.

    335 Notesnook alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Google Chrome
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Flatpak
     
  4. Zettlr icon
     253 likes

    Unified writing platform offering note-taking, easy citations with Zotero integration, LaTeX/Word templates, snippets, themes, dark modes, code highlighting, multi-language support, and knowledge management with Zettelkasten for seamless writing from notes to books.

    197 Zettlr alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
     
  5. Zim icon
     511 likes

    Zim brings the concept of a wiki to your desktop. Store information, link pages and edit with WYSISYG markup or directly typing some lightweight markup syntax and see it previewed as-you-type. Creating a new page is easy by either clicking on the "Create new note"...

    336 Zim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
  6. CherryTree icon
     323 likes

    Hierarchical note-taking software that is free, open-source, cross-platform. Features include rich text, syntax highlighting, multi-level lists, embedded files, customizable interface, code execution, PDF export, spell check, images & tables, and comprehensive project management support.

    121 CherryTree alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
     
  7. SiYuan icon
     80 likes

    SiYuan is a desktop Markdown Block-Reference and Bidirectional-Link note-taking application. Support fine-grained block-level reference and Markdown WYSIWYG.

    93 SiYuan alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Flathub
    • Docker
    • Docker Hub
    • F-Droid
     
  8. Foam icon
     52 likes

    Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, built on Visual Studio Code and GitHub.

    254 Foam alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Visual Studio Code
     
  9. Dendron icon
     71 likes

    Dendron is an open-source, local-first, markdown-based, note-taking tool built on top of VSCode. It supports all the usual features you would expect like tagging, backlinks, a graph view, split panes, and so forth.

    213 Dendron alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Visual Studio Code
     
  10. Bear icon
     96 likes

    Flexible note-taking and writing tool featuring advanced markdown with in-line images, cross-note links, live preview, hashtags, Focus Mode, plain text storage, iCloud sync, one-tap formatting, smart data recognition, and multiple export formats for portability.

    260 Bear alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
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