Scrinium vs Standard Notes: which zero-knowledge notes app fits you?
Two products that agree completely on cryptography and disagree completely on the editor. Standard Notes is a secure notebook; Scrinium is a secure Markdown writing tool.
Scrinium vs Standard Notes · Reviewed September 2026 · 4 min read
Choose Standard Notes if…
You want a long-established, cryptographically conservative notebook and you treat the editor as a container for text.
Choose Scrinium if…
You write in Markdown every day and want that editing experience inside the encryption, not next to it.
Standard Notes vs Scrinium at a glance
| Criterion | Standard Notes | Scrinium |
|---|---|---|
| Content encrypted end to end | Yes: Yes — end-to-end encryption with password-derived keys | Yes: Yes — encrypted on your device before it syncs |
| Zero-knowledge (the service cannot read notes) | Yes: Yes — the server stores ciphertext only | Yes: Yes — keys never leave your device |
| Free sync across all your devices | Partly: Notes and sync are free; advanced editors and storage are paid | Yes: Yes — unlimited notes, devices, and sync |
| Markdown that renders inline as you type | No: Plain-text and rich-text editors, not inline Markdown WYSIWYG | Yes: Yes — Typora-style WYSIWYG, no preview pane |
| Export in an open format | Yes: Plain text and JSON export | Yes: Yes — Markdown, plaintext or re-encrypted |
| Open code you can self-host | Yes: Open source, with a self-hostable server | Yes: Yes — run the backend yourself |
Competitor products change. These notes were reviewed in September 2026 — check the vendor’s own site for current pricing, limits, and features before you decide.
How Standard Notes handles encryption
Standard Notes has earned its reputation. Notes are encrypted on the client with keys derived from your password, the server stores ciphertext, and the design has been public and audited for years. If the only question were “can the service read my notes?”, both products would answer no, and both answers would be true.
Scrinium uses the same architecture with a slightly deeper key hierarchy: your password runs through Argon2id to a master unlock key, which unwraps an account key, which unwraps a vault key, which wraps a key unique to each note. Everything is sealed with XChaCha20-Poly1305, tamper detection runs on every decrypt, and no key material is persisted — the vault key exists only in memory while the app is unlocked.
The practical differences are about recovery and rotation. Scrinium ships a BLAKE2b recovery key so a forgotten password is survivable, and key rotation re-wraps the hierarchy when your password changes.
Who can read your notes
Standard Notes keeps your data portable and its export is honest: plain text and JSON, no escape hatch required. Nothing about it is designed to lock you in.
Where the two products part company is the shape of the content. Standard Notes is fundamentally a plain-text notebook with optional editors layered on top, so a note is a document in their model. Scrinium’s unit is a Markdown file, which is why the export can also be read by anything else that understands Markdown.
Both are open. Scrinium’s backend is a blob store you can run yourself, so the option of “my notes, my server” exists in the same way it does there.
Editing: Standard Notes vs Scrinium
This is the real difference and it is not a matter of taste. Standard Notes’ default editor is deliberately plain: you type text, and formatting is a matter of typing Markdown syntax or switching to a separate rich-text editor on a paid tier. Tables, task lists, and code blocks are handled as text.
Scrinium renders Markdown inline while you type — no preview pane, no editor mode switch. Headings, tables, task lists, fenced code with syntax highlighting, blockquotes, images, math, and diagrams all appear formatted in place, and the same keyboard-first model works on desktop and mobile.
Pricing: what you actually pay for
Standard Notes’ free plan covers notes and sync so the product is genuinely usable without paying; its advanced editors, larger storage, and extras sit behind subscription tiers.
Scrinium makes the free tier unlimited rather than generous: unlimited notes, unlimited encrypted sync, unlimited devices, with the Markdown WYSIWYG editor included rather than gated. Paid tiers add features — attachments, version history, burner notes, graph view, templates, math and diagrams — not capacity.
Where Standard Notes is the better choice
Choose Standard Notes if you value an established, conservative implementation above all else, if you want a Notebook that stores text and does not editorialise about format, or if you have a long-running encrypted archive you are happy with. There is real value in a product that has not changed its story in years.
It is also the simpler tool if you never write Markdown syntax intentionally. A plain notebook is easier to explain, easier to teach, and hard to break.
Where Scrinium is the better choice
Choose Scrinium if you are a Markdown writer who has been using a plain-text editor under an encryption layer and wishing it rendered. The pitch is narrow on purpose: the same zero-knowledge guarantee, with an editing experience you would choose even if privacy were not a factor.
It is also the better fit if you want the notes available in a browser on someone else’s machine without installing anything, and if you would like attachments, version history, and a graph view inside the encrypted boundary rather than beside it.
Moving from Standard Notes to Scrinium
Export from Standard Notes as plain text or JSON. Plain-text notes import into Scrinium cleanly; where a note used Markdown syntax it will render properly on arrival, and where it did not you get the same text you had before.
JSON exports are worth keeping as an archive even after migrating — they preserve timestamps and tags that a text export can lose.
Questions people ask
Is Scrinium as private as Standard Notes?
Both are zero-knowledge: content is encrypted on the client and the server stores ciphertext. Scrinium additionally keeps all key material out of persistent storage — the vault key lives only in memory while unlocked — and publishes its threat model and crypto design for inspection.
What is the main difference between Scrinium and Standard Notes?
The editor. Standard Notes is a secure notebook with plain-text and rich-text editors; Scrinium is a secure Markdown editor that renders formatting inline as you type. The encryption models are comparable; the writing experience is not.
Is there a free encrypted notes alternative to Standard Notes?
Yes. Scrinium’s free tier includes unlimited notes, unlimited encrypted sync, unlimited devices, and the Markdown WYSIWYG editor. Paid tiers add features such as encrypted attachments, version history, and burner notes.
Free, unlimited encrypted sync. No card, no note cap — and the server cannot read a word of it.
Keep reading
Standard Notes is a trademark of its owner. Scrinium is not affiliated with Standard Notes, and nothing here implies endorsement in either direction.