Notesnook vs Paste

Notesnook is a note-taking app for web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, with note sharing and offline access. Notes are encrypted end-to-end before leaving the device, and the apps and sync server are open source under GPLv3. The app can be locked with a fingerprint, PIN, or password; selected private notes can also have a separate password. Individual notes can be published as web pages, optionally password protected. Zapier, IFTTT, or a custom script can send notes through the Inbox API. The free plan offers unlimited notes on unlimited devices, 50 MB of attachment storage per month, files up to 10 MB, and limits of 50 notebooks and 50 tags. Free users can read web-clipped content offline; paid plans include full offline mode and provide from 1 GB to 25 GB of attachment storage per month. Monthly plan prices listed include Essential at $1.99 per month, Pro at $6.99 per month, and Believer at $8.99 per month, including tax. Subscriptions can be cancelled without fees, with notes remaining readable and exportable.

Paste is a private notepad and clipboard for syncing text, links, and code snippets across macOS, Linux, and Windows. Notes may be plain text, Markdown, or code, and users can pin frequently used items. It works offline and merges changes automatically after devices reconnect. The site says local search can find items in under 30 ms across 10,000 entries. Pairing uses a QR scan, short code, or recovery phrase, and each device receives a revocable signing key. Paste says it encrypts content on the device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before storage or syncing, deriving keys from the recovery phrase. Optional relays store encrypted blocks and can see network metadata, but cannot read note contents or keys. The encryption envelope, sync engine, relay client, and verifier are open source; Paste also includes a verifier and standalone CLI. Desktop versions run through the Pear runtime, which installers require. On Windows, the first launch fetches the app peer-to-peer and may take about one minute. iOS and Android are in development. Paste is free and requires no account; it does not provide anonymity or provable physical deletion of ciphertext retained on third-party disks.