BenchRank
#45 in Notes & Knowledge ManagementUpdated 2026-08

Joplin

by Joplin · Open source note-taking with end-to-end encrypted sync

BenchRank score

31.3 — BenchRank score out of 100

Screenshots of Joplin

Homepage · Joplin

Homepage of Joplin

Overview

Joplin is an open source note-taking app for desktop, mobile and the terminal. Notes can hold images, video, PDFs, audio, maths expressions and diagrams, and a Chrome or Firefox web clipper saves web pages and screenshots. Syncing runs through Joplin Cloud, Dropbox or OneDrive with end-to-end encryption, and the app takes plugins, custom themes and Rich Text or Markdown editors.

Best for
Individuals and small teams wanting an open source, encrypted note app that syncs across devices
Pricing
The app itself is free and open source; Joplin Cloud sync starts at 2.99€/month (2.40€/month billed yearly), with Pro at 5.99€/month and Teams at 6.69€/month per user for a minimum of two users.
Runs on
AndroidmacOSWindowsLinux

Strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

  • Open source, with notes saved in an open format
  • End-to-end encryption on notes and Joplin Cloud
  • Apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and terminal
  • Syncs via Joplin Cloud, Dropbox or OneDrive

Trade-offs

  • Basic caps storage at 2 GB and attachments at 10 MB per note
  • Notebook sharing and email-to-note require Pro or above
  • Priority support and multi-user management only on Teams
  • Joplin Cloud AI is marked beta

How Joplin markets itself

A structured read of the promise, proof and page design on Joplin’s captured homepage.

Homepage capture

“Free your notes”

  • Angle: Open source / ownership
  • Hero: Product screenshot

Pricing

Published plans and prices from Joplin’s own pricing page.

How this score is made up

Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.

  • MCP support

    Whether an agent can drive the product through the Model Context Protocol, and how much setup that takes.

  • API quality

    Public API surface: machine-readable spec, official SDKs, documented auth, errors, rate limits and versioning.

  • Documentation

    Publicly reachable docs — coverage, freshness, code samples and machine readability.

  • Agent friendliness

    How readable the site is to an automated client: llms.txt, structured data, server-rendered content, crawler access.

  • Pricing transparency

    Whether real prices are published, self-serve signup exists, and usage costs are knowable without a sales call.

  • Changelog

    A public, dated record of what shipped and when — the clearest signal that a product is still alive.

  • Marketing site structure

    Whether the site answers a buyer's questions: clear positioning, the pages that matter, and accessibility.

  • Page speed

    How fast the site loads for real visitors: Chrome UX Report 75th-percentile LCP, INP and CLS, with a Lighthouse mobile run standing in where a site has too little traffic for field data.

  • Operational trust

    Status page and incident history, security disclosure, compliance and data-processing documentation.

Measured, but not part of the score

Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.

  • Openness

    Source availability, self-hosting, data export and open standards. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — paid SaaS is not worse for being paid SaaS.

  • Maintenance

    Release cadence and repository activity. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — it is only measurable for open repositories.

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Where this comes from

The Joplin pages BenchRank reads when it scores the product — its documentation, release notes, status and security pages, and its repository where there is one.

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