QOwnNotes

Last reviewed Sep 13, 2026 · 881 words

QOwnNotes is not a server and never will be. It is a Qt desktop application that treats a folder of .md files as your notebook, and the self-hosting part is entirely the folder: put it in a Nextcloud sync directory or a Syncthing share and you have notes that follow you between machines with no note-specific service to run, no database to back up, and a format grep can read. That is the entire product, and for a certain kind of user it is exactly right.

Where it sits in a stack

The typical setup is three pieces. Nextcloud (or ownCloud) holds a Notes folder. The Nextcloud desktop client syncs it to each laptop. QOwnNotes opens that folder as a "note folder" and edits files in place, with a live Markdown preview, checkbox lists, code blocks, inline images dropped into a media subfolder, and a search box that indexes everything. On a phone, the official Nextcloud Notes app reads the same folder, because QOwnNotes deliberately uses the same one-file-per-note convention. Nothing in that chain is QOwnNotes-specific except the editor, so leaving is trivial.

An optional Nextcloud app called QOwnNotesAPI adds two things: note versioning (restore a previous revision of a note from inside the editor, backed by Nextcloud's own file versions) and trash recovery. Install it from the Nextcloud app store; it is small and has no configuration.

Syncthing works just as well for the file transport and is faster on a LAN. You lose the versioning integration and the mobile Notes app, but the Nextcloud vs Syncthing question resolves the same way here as for any other folder.

What does not live in the files

Tags, note-to-note links metadata and the folder structure of "subfolders as notebooks" are handled by a local SQLite database that QOwnNotes keeps per note folder. The files sync; the tag database does not, unless you enable the option to store it inside the note folder, which then depends on your sync tool never producing a conflicted copy of a database file. I keep tags out of my workflow for that reason and use subfolders plus front-matter-style keywords in the note text instead, which search finds anyway. If tags are central to how you think, that is the first sign you may want Joplin, where tags are first-class and sync with the notes.

Note encryption is per note, with a password you supply, and the encrypted note is still a text file. It is fine for a few sensitive notes; it is not a vault.

Scripting is the feature nobody expects

QOwnNotes exposes a scripting engine (QML with JavaScript) and ships a script repository inside the app. Real examples from the repository: a script that pipes the current note through a shell command, one that inserts a journal entry with today's date at the top of a daily note, one that renders Mermaid diagrams in preview, and several that reformat pasted text. For a plain-text note tool this is unusual depth, and it is the reason long-time users stay: after 10 years of releases the app has accumulated the kind of small conveniences that only accumulate when one maintainer keeps shipping.

The interface, to be fair, looks like a Qt application from 2015 with a lot of panels. It is customizable to the point of overwhelm, and the defaults are dense. Give it 20 minutes with the panel layout before judging.

Installation is a package, not a container

Linux users get a Snap, a Flatpak, an AppImage and native packages for most distributions; macOS via Homebrew or a DMG; Windows via a portable zip or installer. Memory use is around 100 to 250 MB depending on how big the note folder is, which matches the 256 MB figure. There is nothing to deploy on the server side beyond the optional Nextcloud app, and no Docker image exists because none would make sense.

Who should pick it, and who should not

QOwnNotes fits people who already run Nextcloud, want notes as files with no lock-in of any kind, mostly write on a desktop, and value a scriptable editor over a pretty one. It does not fit anyone who writes mostly on a phone, wants web access to notes from a machine without the app installed, or needs shared editing. Joplin is the safer default in the notes category for mobile-first users; it has real apps on every platform and its own sync to Nextcloud, at the cost of storing notes in its own database and exporting them on demand. My longer survey of the options is in notes apps you actually own.

What I'd do

If Nextcloud is already running: install the QOwnNotesAPI app, create a Notes folder, point QOwnNotes at it on each desktop and the Nextcloud Notes app on the phone, and skip tags in favour of subfolders. Back up nothing extra, because the notes are already in whatever backs up Nextcloud. If Nextcloud is not running and you mostly want notes on your phone, do not install Nextcloud just for this; use Joplin with its file-system or WebDAV sync and move on.