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Is anyone aware of any good open alternatives to Evernote? I've been reluctant to try Evernote for that particular reason (and lock-in factors). Ideally something like: 1) open source format; 2) you host the files e.g. on Dropbox; 3) markdown; 4) searchable (and entries can be tagged). Happy to pay for the app but the files need to be self-hosted in an open format.

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This was discussed on HN previously, with no GREAT alternatives, but a few workable alternatives[1]

I'm actively looking for a replacement. I have tried Paperwork[2], Laverna[3], and DevonThink[4]

If you're on OSX, and open to a fair amount of upfront work, DevonThink is the best alternative I've used, and can sync with webDAV against Owncloud-or-other-DAV-server for multi-client-access.

That said, I've not yet found anything that approaches the overall feature set of Evernote across OSX+iOS, and continue to use it daily. I wish they would just let us host our notebooks on our own datastores.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9206002

[2] http://paperwork.rocks

[3] https://laverna.cc

[4] http://www.devontechnologies.com/products/devonthink/overvie...

+1 for DEVONthink. Your description is fitting, too.

Nothing says you can't just keep a directory full of notes as text/etc files. But some other options might be:

Keepnote (Linux/Windows/Mac but awful. I love it on Linux/Windows) http://keepnote.org/

Quiver (Mac) http://happenapps.com/#quiver

Yojimbo (Mac/iOS) http://www.barebones.com/products/yojimbo/

NVAlt (Mac) http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/

OneNote for Windows (not open format, but can export into open format. Avoid saving notebooks to OneDrive, save them to local disk storage. OneNote for other platforms does not support local storage at all)

ResophNotes (Windows) Aims to be an NVAlt clone. I don't like it, but many others do. http://www.resoph.com/ResophNotes/Welcome.html

Just curious but is there already a standard open source file format for notes, notebooks and documents?

You've described a git repository containing folders of markdown files. The "app" would be a git client and a markdown editor, both of which are available on all mobile platforms.

I use pocket git and IA writer on Android. It's a great combo!

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