Legend vs TreeLine
Legend
legendapp.comTreeLine
treeline.bellz.orgSide by side
| Figure | Legend | TreeLine |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $5/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · Outlining Software | 8.5 (#6) | 7.4 (#17) |
| Spec score · Outliner Software | 8.3 (#11) | 7.4 (#27) |
| Organization | Users can create Boards with multiple Panes for different work areas and switch between contexts. | A file can include several node types with different sets of fields, and each node type can have its own format. |
| Purpose | Legend brings documents, notes, to-do lists, email, files, outlines, and projects into one productivity interface. | TreeLine stores information in a tree structure, with fields on each node forming a mini-database. |
| Support | Legend offers email support and directs users to its forum for bug reports and feature requests. | Doug Bell welcomes feedback, bug reports, and suggestions by email, and the site points TreeLine users to a mailing list. |
Plans
In their own words
Legend
Legend brings notes, documents, tasks, email, files, outlines, and projects into one productivity interface. Users organize work in Boards made up of Panes, which provide separate work areas and context switching. Panes can show Outline, grouped, List, or Calendar views, and filters can use prefixes, item contents, words, or tags. Writing features include Markdown, formatting hotkeys, backlinks, and mirrors that connect notes with tasks. The Agenda view sorts tasks by priority and date. Legend says it syncs in real time across devices and collaborators, works offline, and resolves changes after devices reconnect. Its privacy policy describes client-side encryption before item data syncs to Firebase, with optional password encryption. The Free plan costs nothing and includes 10 Panes, one plugin sync account, and unlimited documents and items. Basic costs $5 a month billed annually; Pro costs $9 a month billed annually. The Browser Pane is not available in the mobile app, though saved links can open in a browser.
TreeLine
TreeLine is a free, offline information organizer for Linux, Windows, and macOS. It stores records in a tree, with fields on each node acting like a small database. Fields can contain plain or rich text, HTML, numbers, dates, times, booleans, and URLs. One file can hold several node types, each with its own fields and formatting. Search commands find node data, while filters present matching nodes in a flat view. Node output can appear on screen, be printed, or be exported to HTML. Files use JSON and may be compressed or encrypted automatically. Import and export cover plain text, delimited tables, older TreeLine files, Mozilla and XBEL bookmarks, generic XML, and ODF text outlines. Additional exports include CSV, PDF, tab-indented text, and TreeLine format. Windows installers target Windows 10 and 11. Linux installation requires Python 3.9 or newer, Qt 6.4 or newer, and PyQt 6.4 or newer. macOS is not formally supported; a third-party MacPorts version is suggested. The free plan is free under GNU GPL v2 or later.