Joplin — Free Evernote Alternative: What It Does, Cost & How to Use It

Joplin at a Glance

Cost	Free forever — open source — the exact licence is in its repository (see the FAQ below).
Sign-up needed?	No — download, install, use. No account, no email, no activation key.
Internet needed?	Only to download it — then the program runs on your computer. (If its job is fetching from the internet, it needs a connection for that job.)
Your files & data	Stay on your computer — the tool itself uploads nothing.
Difficulty	No coding for normal use — see the FAQ for the honest detail.
Runs on	Desktop computer — its official site (linked below) lists the exact systems.
Still updated?	Yes — last code update 01 Nov 2026.
Best for	Building apps for Android phones.

Cost

Free forever — open source — the exact licence is in its repository (see the FAQ below).

Sign-up needed?

No — download, install, use. No account, no email, no activation key.

Internet needed?

Only to download it — then the program runs on your computer. (If its job is fetching from the internet, it needs a connection for that job.)

Your files & data

Stay on your computer — the tool itself uploads nothing.

Difficulty

No coding for normal use — see the FAQ for the honest detail.

Runs on

Desktop computer — its official site (linked below) lists the exact systems.

Still updated?

Yes — last code update 01 Nov 2026.

Best for

Building apps for Android phones.

How Do I Start Using Joplin? (5 Steps)

Download Joplin from its official Releases page (linked below) and install it, like any normal program.

Open it — you will see a main screen with buttons and menus, like the programs you already know.

Give it your work: open a file, start a new project, or type what you need.

Use its tools for building apps for Android phones. Changes appear on screen right away, and mistakes can usually be undone.

Save or export your finished work in the format you need, and share it anywhere.

💡 A real-life example: The apps on your phone — chat, shopping, banking — were built with tools like this doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

Joplin vs Evernote — Why People Switch

	Joplin	Evernote
Price	Free forever	Free tier is very limited; full use is a paid subscription
Account needed	No account needed	Yes — a Evernote account
Where your files live	On your computer	On the company's servers

Joplin

Evernote

Price

Free forever

Free tier is very limited; full use is a paid subscription

Account needed

No account needed

Yes — a Evernote account

Where your files live

On your computer

On the company's servers

Joplin wins on price — it is free forever — and on privacy — your files never have to leave your computer.

Where Evernote is still ahead: Evernote's paid plans add bigger uploads and priority support.

Joplin — Frequently Asked Questions

Is Joplin really free?

Yes — Joplin is free to download and use. It is open source. GitHub could not automatically detect a standard licence for it, so read the licence file in its repository before using it for paid work. There is no subscription and no trial that expires. (Free code does not always mean every hosted service built around a tool is free — if this project offers one, its own site lists any prices.)

Do I need to sign up or create an account to use Joplin?

No. You download it, install it and start. No account, no email, no activation key.

Does Joplin upload my files anywhere?

No — it runs on your own computer, so the files you open stay on your machine. It also keeps working without internet after you install it.

Is Joplin hard for a beginner?

For everyday use, no coding is needed — any 'coding' label in its raw GitHub data describes how the code is shared, not how you use Joplin. Advanced options are there if you ever want them.

Is Joplin still being updated?

Yes — its code was last updated on 01 Nov 2026. It is actively maintained, which matters because operating systems and file formats keep changing.

Is Joplin a good alternative to Evernote?

For most people, yes — it covers the main jobs people use Evernote for, and it is free. Being honest: Evernote's paid plans add bigger uploads and priority support. The comparison table on this page shows the differences.

Get Joplin — Official Links & Download

To download the full source code, generate this repository's public link below and run the clone command in a terminal. For the program itself, use the official website or releases link — those are the project's own, verified sources.

🔒 This repository's public link is protected. Click the button below to generate it.

We never publish installation steps we have not verified — the README above is the source of truth.

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