The best encrypted note apps in 2026

The Scrinium team · September 9, 2026 · 8 min read

If you care about privacy, you can no longer just pick a note app by its editor. The question is whether the service can read your notes. Here’s a comparison of the main encrypted and end-to-end encrypted options — and where each one falls short.

First, “encrypted” has two very different meanings

An app that says “encrypted at rest” might still hold the decryption keys on its servers, so a breach, an admin, or a legal request can read everything. Zero-knowledge or end-to-end encryption means the keys never leave your device and the server only ever holds ciphertext. That’s the distinction that actually protects you.

The contenders

Feature	Scrinium	Standard Notes	Notesnook	Joplin	Obsidian	Notion
End-to-end encrypted
Zero-knowledge (server can’t read)
Markdown WYSIWYG editing
Free unlimited sync
Open source / verifiable

Details change — check each provider for current plans and code.

Scrinium

· Best combination of editor + privacy + free sync

Scrinium pairs a real Markdown WYSIWYG editor with a 1Password-style zero-knowledge key hierarchy. The backend is a dumb encrypted-blob store — it persists ciphertext and a login verifier, nothing more. Free tier is unlimited: unlimited notes, encrypted sync, unlimited devices.

Standard Notes

· Serious crypto, basic editor

Standard Notes is genuinely private and open source. The trade-off is the editing experience, which is far from the inline Markdown WYSIWYG most writers and developers want, and advanced features sit behind a paid plan.

Notesnook

· Private and open source, mixed editor

Notesnook is end-to-end encrypted and cross-platform, a real privacy candidate. Its editor is more of a hybrid Markdown experience than a fully inline WYSIWYG, and some sync/advanced features require a paid tier.

Joplin

· Open source and self-hostable

Joplin is a widely trusted open-source note app with E2EE and self-hosting. The snapshot editor is markdown-first rather than fully WYSIWYG, and sync and encryption can take more setup on some platforms.

Obsidian

· Best editor, encryption is a bolt-on

Obsidian is the gold standard for Markdown editing and local-first notes. But encryption requires a third-party plugin, server sync is paid, and it isn’t zero-knowledge by default.

Notion

· Powerful and popular, not private

Notion excels at connected, database-style notes, but content lives in plaintext on its servers and the Markdown experience is a compromise rather than true WYSIWYG.

The missing combination

Notice the pattern: the apps with the best editors aren’t truly private, and the most private ones compromise on editing or sync. Nobody cleanly combines real Markdown WYSIWYG, true zero-knowledge, and free unlimited sync — that’s the gap Scrinium fills.

Here’s how it works: a 1Password-style key hierarchy (Argon2id → account key → vault key → per-note keys), XChaCha20-Poly1305 on everything, and SRP login so your password never even reaches the server. Decrypt the crypto design or the threat model if you want the details.

The free tier is unlimited — unlimited notes, encrypted sync, and unlimited devices. You’d only upgrade for advanced features like attachments, version history, and backlinks. See pricing.

Try it yourself

Create a vault for free — unlimited notes, encrypted sync, unlimited devices.

Open Scrinium

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