Intro
Welcome to the 8th issue of Now Self Hosted, where I take a look at a selection of apps which can be self-hosted. In this issue we will explore a few note taking web apps: TriliumNext, Many Notes and Plainpad.
TriliumNext - V0.90.12
The first app to be explored in this issue is TriliumNext. The name may sound familiar, that’s because it is built off the original Trilium app that has been put into maintenance mode. This new alternative has picked up development and is adding new features.
It describes itself as:
“An open-source, cross-platform hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases”
Out of all the apps that will be reviewed in this issue, it is by far the most feature filled one. It was easy to install via Docker, since a pre-built image is provided and required no further containers or services.
It seems similar to Obsidian in that a note can have attributes added to make searching for a note or similar ones easier, compared to just searching for text using a traditional fuzzy search. It does not seem to use markdown, instead uses a WYSIWYG editor, although it does say markdown is supported but I am unsure how to switch and if it can be rendered.
When using the interface as a whole it seems well built, with buttons laid out as you would expect. It did take a few moments to work out which buttons did what, as some of the icons are not clear on what they do, however after understanding the layout it seems fine.
Although not tested in this issue, it features synchronisation between devices (the desktop app) and servers. It handles conflict resolution in a good way, since all note changes are version controlled and all changes remain in the history.
The only issue I have found is with the responsiveness when switching between notes. There is a quite a noticeable delay, which can be distracting.
There are many more features that will not be listed as the list is pretty long. It even features it’s own plugin eco-system, where you can grab a third-party plugin to expand it’s functionality.
Many Notes - V0.6.1 (Beta)
The next app calls itself “Many Notes”. Which describes itself as:
“A markdown note-taking app designed for simplicity”
Setup was fairly simple, following the example to setup via Docker, for which a pre-built image is provided. It uses SQLite by default. I’m unsure whether other database engines are supported; no documentation seemed to indicate whether there was. You can also optionally add a mail server to receive registration and password reset emails.
It uses markdown as the native notes format with the ability to upload assets such as pictures. It has a very minimal interface that is easy to use and does not distract from making a note. When editing the note I like how there are simple drop-downs for if you forget the markdown syntax.
It’s had quite a few updates recently. Here is a list of my favourites:
- Automatic upgrade/migrations for database
- SSO with OAuth2
- Tree panel now is open by default on desktop
There is one problem I have encountered. When creating a new note it does not navigate to it, instead you have to find it in the file tree and select it (maybe this is just is bug).
Overall it is a nice app. I’m sure the issue I encountered will be fixed in a later update.
Plainpad V1.0.0
Now onto the “Plainpad”. It is a plain-text based notes editor that like “Many Notes” is designed to be minimal it’s statement is:
“Driven by simplicity and stability in mind, Plainpad offers great potential at no cost”
This looked like a good app from all the fancy branding on the official site. No Docker image was provided, which is fine since they offer a guide on how to build one. After making an image and following the configuration instructions. I could not get it working (it just showed a 502 error), so your millage may vary. They do also offer a free installation service.
During the program running npm flagged numerous deprecation and “package is abandoned” warnings, so I’m not sure on the safety of running this outside of a container and trusting all your private notes on it.
To continue this review I had to use their demo. I can’t say what machine it is running on, however the app seemed fast at navigation and the typing experience was good. It supports only plain-text so there were no formatting buttons or drop-downs. The search feature also worked as expected and was also responsive. There does not seem to be any way of organising your notes via folders or tags, however this may be fine for users looking for a really minimal app.
In it’s feature list it says it will work offline, however none of the notes I opened were there when I put the browser in offline mode, although it could be because I am running their demo.
Because of my experience I cannot really recommend this app currently. However, if you are willing to give it a go; it may work fine for you.
Note Mark - V0.15.0
Now onto the final app, which is an extra since it is my own note taking web app. It’s called Note Mark. Therefore I will not be reviewing, however I will just list a few features after a quick explanation.
It is a markdown note taking app; that is designed to be simple, yet have an easy to use interface. After doing some performance testing I can say it should perform very well. A large note can be rendered at around 2ms and faster, which is most likely due to a WASM powered markdown renderer. It can also perform searching within 1ms when there are 1000+ notes.
Here’s some of the features:
- Mobile Friendly
- Friendly “Slug” based URLs for cleaner links
- Notebook Sharing
- Editor has shortcuts and even vim mode
- Unified files/folder tree drawer
- Asset uploading and management
If this app seems like what you want go give it a try. If not maybe one of the others spoken about in this issue may be more suitable or how about from another post, where I also take a look at a selection of note taking apps.
Thanks For Reading
I hope you enjoyed reading this issue of Now Self Hosted.
Thanks for reading and don’t forget to come back here again for the next issue of Now Self Hosted.
Disclaimer: I am the creator of 'Note Mark'.
This post was not endorsed or sponsored by any of the mentioned parties. My views are my own.
Testing
All apps unless otherwise stated are run on:
- Raspberry Pi 4
- 4GB RAM
- 256GB SATA M.2 SSD
- Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS
All apps are tested from a MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB with a chromium based browser.
Links
- TriliumNext
- Many Notes
- Plainpad
- Note Mark (Made By Author)
