OneNote is a proprietary computer software package for free-form information gathering and multi-user collaboration. It enables a user to capture what is important in their personal and professional life, captured by making notes, to-do lists, photos, audio clips, or videos. Information is stored in a non-linear form. OneNote is developed by the behemoth, Microsoft. Whilst the program is available for Android, it has not been ported to Linux.
Evernote is another top notetaking and archiving program. Evernote enables users to help remember everything important. Again, Evernote Corporation, the developers of Evernote, have no plans to develop a Linux client, although there are native third party clients such as NoxNote and EverPad which can be used.
Fortunately, there are some top notch open source programs that offer a real alternative to OneNote. The purpose of this article is to identify our pick of the finest OneNote equivalents that run natively under Linux.
So let’s explore the 6 OneNote alternatives at hand. For each application we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, a screenshot, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.
| OneNote Alternatives | |
|---|---|
| CherryTree | Hierarchical note taking application packed with features |
| WikidPad | Wiki-like notebook for storing your thoughts, ideas, todo lists |
| Zim Desktop Wiki | Edit text files "wiki style" |
| BasKet Note Pads | Organizing, sharing, and taking notes |
| RedNotebook | Daily journal with calendar, templates and keyword searching |
| org-mode | Keep notes, maintain ToDo lists, and do project planning in Emacs |
Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |


Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
CherryTree is my favorite followed by FeatherNotes. FeatherNotes is lacking bullet lists and needs more import and export capabilities. It also needs more work in the Find / Replace functionality. CherryTree simply needs some bugs worked out of it.