Joplin vs Evernote

Why Switch from Evernote to Joplin?

Evernote was the dominant note-taking app for a decade. After the 2022 acquisition by Bending Spoons (an Italian holding company), Evernote went through significant changes — including layoffs, a US-Europe data residency shuffle, and aggressive pricing increases. Even with the European parent, the core service still operates with significant US infrastructure dependency.

Joplin is the open-source EU-friendly alternative: created by French developer Laurent Cozic, fully open source under AGPL, end-to-end encryptable, and built on plain Markdown files that are yours to keep no matter what happens to any specific provider.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Joplin	Evernote
License	AGPL open-source	Proprietary
Format	Markdown (.md)	Proprietary database
E2E encryption	✅ Available	❌
Self-hostable	✅ Yes (sync server)	❌
Free tier	✅ Full (local-only)	⚠️ Heavily limited
Jurisdiction	France / EU 🇫🇷🇪🇺	Italy (Bending Spoons) / US infra
GDPR	✅ Native	⚠️ Provider compliance
Mobile apps	✅ iOS / Android	✅ iOS / Android
Desktop apps	✅ Win / Mac / Linux	✅ Win / Mac
Web clipper	✅ Chrome / Firefox	✅
OCR	Plugin-based	Native
Sync options	7+ (cloud / self-host)	1 (Evernote service)
Pricing	€2.99-7.99/mo	$14.99-17.99/mo

The structural differences favour Joplin for anyone who wants to actually own their notes long-term.

Pricing

Joplin is genuinely cheap:

• Joplin (client): Free forever, full-featured
• Joplin Cloud Basic: €2.99/month — 1 GB attachments, basic sync
• Joplin Cloud Pro: €5.99/month — 10 GB attachments, publishing, collaboration
• Joplin Cloud Teams: €7.99/user/month — team features, admin controls

Or use Joplin with your existing Nextcloud, WebDAV server, or S3 bucket for free.

Evernote pricing for comparison:

• Free: heavily limited (50 notes, 1 notebook)
• Personal: $14.99/month
• Professional: $17.99/month
• Teams: $20.83/user/month

For individuals, Joplin Cloud Pro at €5.99/month vs Evernote Personal at $14.99/month is a meaningful difference.

Privacy & Data Sovereignty

Joplin’s structural privacy advantages:

• French sole proprietor — Joplin is owned and developed by Laurent Cozic in France
• EU-hosted cloud sync — Joplin Cloud operates from OVHcloud French data centres
• Self-host option — full data sovereignty if you prefer; Joplin can sync to your own Nextcloud or WebDAV server
• End-to-end encryption — optional but available across all sync targets
• Open source — every change in the codebase is publicly visible and auditable

For privacy-sensitive note-taking (research, legal, journalism), the combination of open-source code + E2E encryption + self-host option exceeds what any proprietary cloud product can offer.

Migration Guide

Moving an Evernote vault to Joplin takes about an hour for a moderate library:

1. Install Joplin on your primary device from joplinapp.org (5 minutes)
2. Export Evernote notebook(s) as .enex files (10 minutes; export each notebook individually)
3. Import to Joplin via File → Import → ENEX, selecting your exported files (10-30 minutes depending on volume)
4. Set up sync — create a Joplin Cloud account, or configure Nextcloud / WebDAV credentials (10-20 minutes)
5. Enable E2E encryption if desired, generating and saving your master key (5 minutes)
6. Install Joplin on your other devices and sync (10 minutes per device)
7. Verify import — spot-check notes, especially attachments and tag preservation (15-30 minutes)
8. Cancel Evernote after a 2-week parallel-run safety period (operational)

Estimated total time: 1-2 hours for a moderate vault. Difficulty: Easy if you’re comfortable with files; moderate if sync configuration is unfamiliar.

Real-World Use Cases

An independent journalist moved from Evernote to Joplin with Joplin Cloud + E2E encryption after the 2025 ICC / Microsoft incident raised concerns about US-cloud-hosted research notes. The combination of EU jurisdiction, E2E encryption, and open-source auditability provided structural protection that no Evernote tier could.

A small academic research group uses Joplin synced to a self-hosted Nextcloud server in Germany. Shared notes are organised by project; sensitive notes use individual master keys. Total cost: their existing Nextcloud subscription.

A privacy-conscious legal practice uses Joplin with Joplin Cloud Pro + E2E encryption for matter notes. The combination of professional secrecy obligations and EU data protection requirements made the Joplin stack the only practical answer.

Company Background

Joplin is owned and developed primarily by Laurent Cozic, a French developer who launched the project in 2016 as an open-source response to Evernote’s growing limitations. The project is licensed under AGPL-3.0 with active community contribution and has accumulated thousands of GitHub contributors over the years.

Joplin Cloud — the optional managed sync service — was launched in 2020 to provide a sustainable funding model for Joplin development. As of 2026, Joplin Cloud serves tens of thousands of paying subscribers worldwide.

Laurent operates Joplin as a sole proprietor business based in France. The project’s funding model (subscription revenue from Joplin Cloud plus modest community donations) keeps Joplin independent from venture capital and acquisition pressure.

Security & Compliance

• AGPL-3.0 open-source license
• End-to-end encryption with customer master key
• Per-note encryption — even encrypted metadata is minimised
• TLS 1.3 for all sync traffic
• Self-hostable sync server for maximum data sovereignty
• GDPR-native (French / EU jurisdiction for Joplin Cloud)
• No telemetry by default

Integration Ecosystem

• Sync targets: Joplin Cloud, Nextcloud, WebDAV (any), Dropbox, OneDrive, S3
• Web clippers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari (community)
• Mobile apps: iOS, Android (Play Store + F-Droid)
• Plugins: 100+ community plugins — Mermaid diagrams, OCR, code mirror enhancements, calendar views, etc.
• CLI: terminal client for power users / scripting
• Export formats: JEX (Joplin Export), Markdown, HTML, PDF

Who Should Switch?

Joplin is ideal for:

• Privacy-conscious individuals wanting open-source, E2E-encrypted notes
• Developers and researchers who prefer Markdown and plain-text portability
• Self-hosters wanting full data sovereignty via Nextcloud or WebDAV
• Cost-conscious users wanting a real Evernote replacement at a fraction of the price
• Anyone who has been burned by proprietary note formats before

The Bottom Line

Evernote may still be more polished in specific workflows (its Scannable integration is best-in-class). But for the core use case of keeping a searchable, organised, durable personal knowledge base, Joplin is the better choice — and its open-source AGPL licence means your notes are structurally yours, not subject to whatever business decisions a future Evernote owner makes.

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Looking for more European note-taking alternatives? See also: Anytype, Standard Notes, and Logseq.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Joplin really open source?

Yes. Joplin is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and the full source code is available on GitHub (laurent22/joplin). You can self-host the sync server, audit every line, and contribute back. This is fundamentally different from Evernote's proprietary stack.

What's the difference between Joplin and Joplin Cloud?

Joplin is the open-source client. Joplin Cloud is the optional managed sync service (hosted in EU data centres) that lets you sync notes across devices without setting up your own server. You can also use Joplin with Nextcloud, WebDAV, Dropbox, OneDrive, or S3 — Joplin Cloud is one option among several.

Is Joplin Cloud hosted in the EU?

Yes. Joplin Cloud is operated from EU data centres (primarily France via OVHcloud) by Joplin's owner Laurent Cozic. The service is subject to EU/French data protection law.

Can I migrate my Evernote notes to Joplin?

Yes. Joplin has built-in import for Evernote .enex files. Export your Evernote notebook(s) as .enex, then use Joplin's File → Import → ENEX option. The import preserves note content, tags, and attachments. Plan for several minutes of work plus some manual reorganisation.

How does the end-to-end encryption work?

Joplin's E2E encryption uses a master key you create. All notes are encrypted on your device before being uploaded to the sync target (Joplin Cloud, Nextcloud, etc.). Even Joplin Cloud cannot read your notes — only encrypted blobs. You can lose all access if you lose your master key, so save it securely.