Selfhosted

Quillpad is the closest I've found. It's simple markdown files. It can sync with Nextcloud as well. I use it for any short note or lists. Long form stuff including journal, I use Obsidian (not open source)

I'm just using a self hosted git repo with markdown files. I was having trouble finding something open source that I could edit with vim that also had a good mobile solution. I also didn't want to get locked into a file format that was specific to an app.

Markdown is ubiquitous and I use git all the time as a developer so it was easier to tack something onto an existing workflow. It's a little janky but at least I won't be screwed by devs abandoning whatever app I was using.

I use Joplin on top of Nextcloud.

You can browse the collection on OpenAlternative here: https://openalternative.co/categories/notetaking

I use Joplin, no complaints.

Nextcloud is a really good all-in-one solution for self hosting data

My solution is basically what @mojolobo mentions with Nextcloud behind it and I love the concept. Because Obsidian (via a WebDAV plugin on the phone) just syncs with the "Notes" folder in my Nextcloud root it really is just a bunch of .md (markdown) files. It gives me an added sense of security (on top of the self-hosting aspect) because I can see those files everywhere I have Nextcloud installed, I can edit them manually if I wanted to. On the PC you just point the Obsidian app to the folder, on phones you do it via a WebDAV plugin.

Results from me asking this 1Y ago: https://lemm.ee/post/4593760

Went with Joplin and using it since.

Probably Joplin is the easiest to use. Looks like OneNote but it's different in many ways.

I use https://silverbullet.md and love it, it's a bit more than a note taking app, but it's definitely worth it.

I use nextcloud notes because I already have nextcloud and my needs are not that sophisticated

Welcome to the rabbit hole of selfhosted note-taking apps. https://selfh.st/apps/?tag=Note-Taking

Unfortunately, this is going to be a bit of a journey. You'll probably end up going through a few of these options until you find one that works for you and fits your workflow.

I've been getting on well with notesnook, the self hosting is in beta right now but its just a docker container. Docs are coming for self hosting in the near future.

https://notesnook.com/

The criteria for me when I was looking for a notes app were:

• self hosted
• e2e encrypted
• supports images and other rich media as well as text
• can use markdown for text formatting
• supports mobile as well as some desktop interface
• can make lists with checkable boxes
• background sync

Notesnook hits all of these. I wish it had a dedicated desktop app but that's something I can just use a browser window for.

Obsidian is pretty neat. Can use it with Syncthing, although I guess you need Syncthing-Fork on Android now.

It's still in alpha but hoarder is promising

It's designed to organize bookmarks, but can also support markdown notes with picture (a single picture, not multiple pictures)

Unfortunately at the moment the mobile app is so alpha that doesn't support creation or editing such notes, only new bookmarks or new photos.

It uses a headless chromium to make screenshots for URLs.

Optionally, can use a bullshit generator like ollama or openai api keys to automatically create a lot of useless tags to each note

I'd vote for anytype or obsidian

Anytype has a learning curve, But it has built-in encryption and IPFS syncing provided by the company. The templating system is really slick and the relational aspect is pretty solid.

Obsidian + syncthing fork is a really solid contender. It's much easier to work with out of the box but the features are a little more generic.

Neither of these are really self-hosted, so much as they are contained in their own ecosystem. You get some measure of higher availability that you have to really work for if you're really self-hosting a product.

Trilium. You'll be ~~glass~~ glad you tried it.