3 Best European Microsoft OneNote Alternatives in 2026

Joplin is a French open source note-taking app that organizes Markdown notes into nested notebooks, with 55,000+ GitHub stars making it one of Europe's most popular productivity projects. Notes support attachments, to-do checkboxes, alarms, and full-text search, and the web clipper saves complete pages or simplified articles from any browser.

Synchronization is where Joplin stands apart: end-to-end encryption protects notes synced through Joplin Cloud, Nextcloud, WebDAV, or any S3-compatible storage, so no provider can read your content. Desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux pair with mobile apps for iOS and Android, and everything works offline first.

Key features:

• Markdown notes and notebooks with attachments, tags, and full-text search
• End-to-end encrypted sync via Joplin Cloud, Nextcloud, WebDAV, or S3
• Web clipper captures full pages or simplified articles into your notes
• To-dos with alarms turn notes into actionable reminders
• Offline first on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android
• Extensible with community plugins, themes, and a plugin API
• Open source under AGPL with importers for Evernote ENEX files

Joplin is developed from France by its founder Laurent Cozic, with the paid Joplin Cloud service operated under GDPR and the free path always available through self-hosted sync. Your notes live wherever you choose, encrypted before they leave the device.

Ideal for anyone replacing Google Keep, OneNote, or Evernote who wants their notes in an open format under their own control.

BrewMemo is a Nextcloud-connected notes app for people who want their notebooks stored on infrastructure they choose. It combines a Markdown editor with notes, notebooks and reminders, rather than asking users to move their writing into another hosted productivity account. That makes it especially relevant to someone who already runs Nextcloud for personal or workplace files.

The mobile apps work with a Nextcloud backend, and offline editing lets writing continue without a connection. Changes synchronise when connectivity returns. This approach puts the server choice in the user's hands, but it also leaves the surrounding infrastructure to them: a working Nextcloud installation, maintenance and backups are part of the setup, not an invisible managed service.

Key benefits:

• Nextcloud synchronisation keeps notes connected to an existing personal or organisational server.
• Markdown editing provides a familiar format for writing and structuring everyday notes.
• Offline access allows editing without connectivity and synchronises changes after reconnection.
• Notes and notebooks organise ideas into collections rather than one continuous document.
• Reminders help turn recorded thoughts into tasks that receive timely attention.
• Mobile apps bring the note-taking workflow to iOS and Android devices.

BrewMemo is developed by BrewCode GmbH, based in Kempten, Germany. Its European sovereignty argument rests on the ability to use a chosen Nextcloud server. That is control over hosting, not a blanket claim of end-to-end encryption or an exemption from configuring the server securely.

The advertised mobile subscription costs €2.99 monthly or €28.99 yearly, following a one-week trial. The vendor describes the Nextcloud backend as open source; that statement should not be extended to the whole mobile product. BrewMemo suits existing Nextcloud users willing to take responsibility for their storage environment.

Standard Notes keeps personal writing behind end-to-end encryption, with notes that remain available across devices and offline. The free version handles plain text, making it useful for journals, research fragments and everyday lists. Its appeal is straightforward: a private notebook that can travel between a phone and a computer without exposing its contents to the service operator.

The apps encrypt content before syncing it to the server. Paid editing tools expand the notebook into rich text, Markdown, spreadsheets and daily journals, while the Professional plan adds encrypted file storage. That distinction matters when comparing it with Apple Notes or OneNote: privacy and basic syncing are free, but richer ways of working require a subscription.

Key benefits:

• Encrypted sync keeps note contents unreadable to the service during cloud storage.
• Offline access makes writing available when a network connection is missing.
• Unlimited devices lets the free notebook follow a user between supported platforms.
• Data export provides encrypted or plain text copies for independent safekeeping.
• Open source apps publish their implementation under the GNU AGPL licence.
• Paid file storage adds 100GB of encrypted space on the Professional subscription.

Standard Notes joined Switzerland-based Proton in 2024, but its own privacy policy names Standard Notes Ltd. as a United States-based operator and lists AWS hosting globally. European ownership and encrypted content should therefore be distinguished from EU data residency. The policy describes GDPR protections for European users without claiming exclusively European infrastructure.

The published annual prices are $90 for Productivity and $120 for Professional. It is a practical choice for private personal records; the free plain text editor is intentionally simpler than the paid workspace.