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Simplenote vs QOwnNotes: catalog facts
Simplenote	QOwnNotes
Free The software is free under its open-source licence. Hosting, hardware and external…	Free Free and open source under the GPL.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android	macOS, Linux
Syncing is free and unlimited across every platform, notes keep a version history, and the whole thing stays…	Notes are plain Markdown files, so nothing is locked in a proprietary format Works with Nextcloud and ownCloud Notes, or any file sync you already use
There is no encryption of note contents on Automattic's servers, and no attachments, folders or rich formatting.	Many of the better features assume a Nextcloud or ownCloud server The interface is dense and Qt-flavoured rather than native anywhere
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: GPL-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.