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The original was posted on /r/selfhosted by /u/Lv_InSaNe_vL on 2025-05-27 15:28:39+00:00.
Hello all, I am obsessed with OneNote, I live my entire life out of my calendar and OneNote. But I have been trying to replace it with a self-hosted option because I would like to control my own data ~~and I am tired of paying for a M365 subscription for just OneNot~~e. It turns out OneNote does not require a subscription which is really cool and means any suggestions have to not only cost less but be worth it to switch.
I have some requirements here which seem to be pretty hard to meet:
- It must work on Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS (iPad). If it has a web version that would be a plus too, but it's not required if there is a desktop app anywhere
- I like the "folder" structure that Obsidian has, but it seems like any of these notes app all have similar layouts.
- It must support the nice handwriting -> text thing that my iPad can do with the apple pencil.
- Live saving, I don't want to have to use Git or export/import or any of that kind of nonsense. I want it to just keep the server and clients all up to date
- Although I do need to be able to export specific pages periodically so I will need it to do that as well
- Actually save the data to my server, locally. So I can access it without internet (assuming I am connected to the local network lol)
- And I have some "nice to have" things that aren't strictly necessary
- Markdown support. I can deal with a WYSIWYG editor but I like to be able to switch into markdown sometimes
- Community extensions
- Multi-User support with the ability to have shared notebooks between users
And here are some options that I have used in the past to help
- OneNote - My beloved. The only two things it doesn't do is save to my server and let me use markdown
- Obsidian - This is actually my runner up. I really liked everything about Obsidian except how it uses git to sync to the main server. It's just really hard to use on Android and near impossible on my iPad.
- Joplin - I had nonstop issues with self-hosting this. Constant issues with syncing, permissions, and the docker container staying stable. This could have been user error but I don't care enough to try again.
- Trillium - This one was okay. I didn't find a mobile app that worked super well and it was a little too basic for me. Also this is a personal thing, but I don't think the first 1/3 of your README should be dedicated to political causes even though its a cause I support.
- Paper Notebook - Not actually a piece of software. Just the good old fashioned notebook and pen.
Let me know what you guys think!