Alternatives to Xournal++
Handwritten notes and PDF annotation with a stylus, including on top of lecture slides and scanned papers. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Xournal++
Handwritten notes and PDF annotation with a stylus, including on top of lecture slides and scanned papers.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Xournal++.
Rnote
An open-source vector drawing app for handwritten notes, sketches and annotating PDFs and pictures.
Rnote is an open-source vector drawing app with an infinite canvas and PDF annotation for Linux and macOS, but its native file format changes between versions.
Drawboard PDF
A pen-friendly PDF markup app with live-synced annotations across desktop, mobile and web.
Drawboard PDF is a proprietary pen-focused markup app with live-synced annotations across desktop, mobile and web, with advanced features on paid plans.
Noteshelf
A handwriting notebook app for iPad, iPhone and Mac with PDF annotation and audio recording.
Noteshelf moves handwriting and PDF annotation to iPad, iPhone and Mac, adding audio recording, but it is proprietary and limited to Apple devices.
Flexcil
A study app that combines PDF reading, annotation and handwritten notes on tablets and the web.
Flexcil targets Android and iPad tablets plus the web, pairing PDF reading with handwritten notes, and is closed source with a freemium model.
LiquidText
An active-reading app for annotating PDFs and pulling excerpts into a flexible workspace.
LiquidText swaps free-form drawing for an excerpt workspace on Windows, macOS and iPad, and is a proprietary freemium app.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Xournal++ as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Evince
GNOME's lightweight document viewer for PDF, PostScript and other document formats on Linux.
Xournal++ focuses on stylus annotation and handwritten notes over PDFs rather than plain reading, and does not open PostScript files.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
PDF Arranger
Drag PDF pages into the order you want, rotate them, crop them, and merge two files together.
Stirling PDF
A self-hosted web PDF toolkit for merging, splitting, converting, signing and editing PDFs on your own server.
Obsidian
A notes app that works on a folder of plain Markdown files on your own disk, with links between them.
Joplin
An open source note and to-do app that syncs end-to-end encrypted through storage you already have.
Okular
Universal document viewer for PDF, EPUB, comics, DjVu and more.
Skim
macOS PDF reader and annotator built for reading papers.
