Standard Notes

Shown for US

• Free to download
• In-app purchases

Last verified 31 Jul 2026

Shown for US

4.7 3678 ratings · App Store

1. 5/5Great Notes App

   I recently switched over to Standard Notes after using Evernote for 10 years. I had a lot of requirements for a notes app, which included a web app along with native apps for iOS, macOS, and Windows. I also wanted a robust syncing mechanism to the cloud, end-to-end encryption, support for text formatting, and a way to organize notes by folders or tags/subtags. Standard Notes supports all of this and even has a feature to import notes exported from Evernote. I really appreciate the ability to self-host the server side components - this makes me feel secure knowing that no matter what happens to the company, my data will always be fully under my control. My only complaints would be the fact that I can’t open multiple notes in separate windows at the same time - I used this feature quite a lot with Evernote - now it is pretty cumbersome to need to switch back and forth between notes when I am trying to compare things or working on multiple notes at a time. I also wish Standard Notes supported printing out a note natively. Currently I need to export to a PDF, print the PDF from a PDF viewer, and then delete the PDF just to quickly print something. One other thing is that while the importing from Evernote files worked pretty well, the text formatting did not import properly - it would be nice if some extra time was put into making this better to preserver the formatting and the way notes looked before exporting from Evernote. Overall, I think this is a great app and I am very happy with it.

   extest · 31 Jul 2026

2. 5/5Best Note App Available

   I used to use Apple’s “Notes” app but found it wasn’t built with proper indexing. Meaning, if you started to have a good volume of notes, its search and processing, in general, were very slow. Standard Notes was built the way this type of all should be. I have it on both my laptop and phone. Any changes I make on one immediately sync to the other, which has been incredibly handy and helpful on several occasions. Apples “Notes” remains to be not as reliable to do so. Additionally, the security on Standard Notes is higher than any other note taking app. To the point that it records your login email address with case sensitive. To be honest, because of this, one time I thought I was using the wrong password. I’ve been coding professionally for over 20 years and know that the email address should never require case sensitive entry. That’s my only complaint about the app. Even their own staff doesn’t seem to realize it is because I once contacted them about login issues. I had to figure out that it was case sensitive on my own. This app also allows tags and other options. I think the design could be improved on how it visually organizes your notes for you. But, it is still my favorite note taking app because of its security, amazing immediate syncing, and excellent indexing. So much so that I bought their 5 year subscription when they offered it awhile back. I foresee myself being a lifetime user.

   AstroGirlBunny · 31 Jul 2026

3. 4/5Almost perfect

   This is a really great app. Very simple and straight forward. The only reason I am giving 4/5 stars is because there is no way to toggle dark mode on/off. I understand that extra themes come with the premium subscription, however not everyone can afford to keep up with a monthly subscription or an upfront payment of $50 or $150 (which is kind of an outrageous amount to pay if you just want the dark theme). If the delevopers read these reviews, I would just ask that a simple toggle be added to switch between light and dark mode... You don't even have to take one of your premium themes and add it to the free mode, I am just asking that in addition to your blue and red theme there be a toggle to switch the background color from white to black (the same amoled black you have in your focus theme). Please please please, this app will be absolutely PERFECT if you would be so generous as to add such a toggle to the free version of the app. Or at the very least make this option an in app purchase of say $5 or $10. I would be willing to pay for this feature, and I'm sure others would too.

   Starchief0481 · 31 Jul 2026

4. 1/5Seems like a pretty cool app.

   It seems like a pretty cool app, but here’s my problem. Recently I decided that every app that hijacked me and made me touch my screen and answer a question before it allowed me to use the app that I installed to be able to use when I wanted to use it would get a revie from me, But a negative one. This has required me to use more of my time for something that seems trivial, but if everybody followed suit and did the same, how quickly would some of our favorite apps stop doing the things that everybody hates, another pop-up demanding your time. Content creators please listen the old adage “no news is good news“ maybe something you might want to consider. For those that may have constructive criticism and some good ideas to share may also be able to click on the “contact us” link in the app. And the ones that have neither the time nor the intelligence to locate such a link, are you really wanting their feedback unfiltered and made public? I do not create apps on this platform, so maybe it’s actually the App Store that forces its way into the app and demands a rating. If that were the case then my apologies again to the creators of the app but my point remains valid, if enough people started leaving one star reviews because of the invasive polling methods then possibly even Apple would conclude that that method is not only unappreciated but ineffective and would stop forcing it down our throat’s.

   jcmarkhus · 31 Jul 2026

5. 1/5Sad Sync and Support

   I loved it until I fell for the trap and imported all my notes from another app to consolidate them all here and it just broke the sync, and support was unhelpful leaving me to figure it out on my own when I am paying for a premium subscription. They asked me to make a whole new account to move everything over instead of helping fix my existing account. Haven’t had the time to figure out an alternative yet, but how can I trust this app for important information anymore. I used to use this everyday for everything until this issue and this made me averse to it. Premium price for poor bandwidth and very limited capabilities. Many features to like but refusing to fix one simple issue breaks it all. They don’t even make it clear on their website that you should import notes in only tiny batches at a time over time, no mention in the instructions when I did it, and I looked before going ahead with the import. Only after it’s broken did they tell me that’s how it should be done. Again, what’s the point. Multi-device sync is what I am paying for and I can’t get it anymore. Need to figure out a way to back up all my notes and slowly get my data out of this. The point of using a notes app is to make life easier but if I have to spend hours on my weekends to fix an issue caused by the app and am unable to access my notes or have to delete my data, that too only one file at a time, to make it usable again or move my whole account to a new one instead of a simpler fix by tech what is the point of paying for it. If I can figure out a way to backup and sync using an open source platform that would be a better use of my time and effort. Sad. lol.

   skishan · 31 Jul 2026

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