Standard Notes

Standard Notes is a note-taking application whose defining constraint is that the server never sees note contents. Notes are encrypted end-to-end on the device before they leave it, so the sync service holds ciphertext and metadata only. The account is unlocked with a passphrase; losing it means losing the notes, because there is no recovery path the operator could offer.

The default editor is plain text, deliberately so, and the note list supports tags, pinning, starring, archiving and a trash. Note history lets you go back to an earlier revision. A local passcode or biometric lock can be required before the application opens.

Richer editors — Markdown with preview, rich text, code with syntax highlighting, spreadsheets and tasks — along with nested tags and two-factor authentication, belong to the product but not all of them sit in the free tier, and that boundary has moved over time. Clients exist for desktop, mobile and the browser, and the sync server can be self-hosted.