{
  "id": 15658564,
  "title": "I tried 5 self-hosted note-taking apps for a year - here's what stuck",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/i-tried-5-self-hosted-note-taking-apps-for-a-year-heres-what-stuck",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-19T21:47:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/scsoi/i-tried-5-self-hosted-note-taking-apps-for-a-year-heres-what-stuck-3oc7"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a year-long experiment with five self-hosted note-taking applications, the author has settled on a hybrid solution. The apps tried were Standard Notes, Joplin, Obsidian, Trilium Notes, and Logseq. The author notes that there is no single best note-taking app; instead, different tools are suited for different tasks. The author also emphasizes the importance of local-first notes, as cloud-only solutions may not always be reliable. The author prefers markdown as the universal format for all notes, regardless of the tool used. After trying multiple apps, the author settled on using Obsidian for technical documentation and Trilium for everything else, leveraging their respective strengths. The author also shares their cost comparison, noting that a hybrid setup can be used without any cost. The overall takeaway from this experiment is to stop chasing a perfect tool and instead pick the right tool for the job, and to write consistently.",
  "summary": "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 Standard Notes - encrypted, minimal, free Joplin - markdown, local-first, free Obsidian - markdown, local-first, but paid sync Trilium Notes - self-hosted, free, hierarchical Logseq - outliner, block-based, free What I actually do with notes For context, I'm a…",
  "key_points": [
    "Author tried five self-hosted note-taking apps for a year",
    "Settled on hybrid solution using Obsidian and Trilium",
    "Emphasized local-first notes and markdown format"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}