What Joplin Does
- Markdown notes — full Markdown support with preview
- Notebooks and tags — hierarchical organization
- End-to-end encryption — E2EE for all synced data
- Sync backends — Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3, WebDAV, Joplin Cloud
- Web clipper — browser extension to save web pages
- To-do lists — with alarms
- Plugins — 200+ community plugins
- Full-text search — FTS across all notes
- Attachments — images, PDFs, any file
- Export — Markdown, PDF, HTML, JEX
Architecture
Desktop: Electron + React. Mobile: React Native. Data stored as Markdown files in a local SQLite database. Sync uses a delta-based protocol over REST APIs to the configured backend. E2EE uses AES-256.
Comparison
| App | Open Source | E2EE | Self-host |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin | Yes (AGPL) | Yes | Yes |
| Obsidian | No | Via plugin | No |
| Notion | No | No | No |
| Standard Notes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Logseq | Yes | No (local) | N/A |
FAQ
Q: Joplin vs Obsidian? A: Joplin is fully open source with built-in sync and E2EE; Obsidian uses local files with a richer plugin ecosystem and more modern UI. Joplin fits privacy-conscious and self-hosted users; Obsidian fits those after experience and community.
Q: Where is data stored? A: In a local SQLite database. When syncing, it's encrypted and uploaded to a backend you pick (Nextcloud, S3, etc.). You always control the data.
Sources
- Docs: https://joplinapp.org/help
- GitHub: https://github.com/laurent22/joplin
- License: AGPL 3.0