Note taking app that's not electron-based?
I've been slowly transferring my notes from OneNote to Obsidian since last year and lately I noticed that Obsidian is opening slower the more notes I add to it, especially the ones with a lot of images. The slow down is painfully obvious on my 13-year-old…
I've been slowly transferring my notes from OneNote to Obsidian since last year and lately I noticed that Obsidian is opening slower the more notes I add to it, especially the ones with a lot of images. The slow down is painfully obvious on my 13-year-old laptop that struggles a lot with electron apps (it takes 10 minutes for Steam to fully load). Meanwhile, I have no problem opening those notes on OneNote through that laptop since it's a native app so yeah, I'm looking for a non-electron based note app. Major requirements: no AI integration works on Windows with optional compatibility to Linux notes should be locally stored and accessible offline password protection (I use Cryptomator on Obsidian but it's a hassle having to open Cryptomator first before Obsidian) allows subfolders and subpages ability to link to specific note blocks has support for tables and media attachment can display notes side-by-side drawing support isn't needed but would be nice to have What I've tried so far: QOwnNotes: I had a hard time displaying specific folder list on the sidebar and the encrypted notes are not searchable when I tried it last year. Cherry Tree: closest replacement I've found but the UI is a blast from the past. I might consider switching to this if there are no other better alternatives. Edit: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'll check them all out after work. I'm so fed up with Google only suggesting the usual apps like Evernote and other apps that are Mac exclusive and their unreliable AI suggesting apps that are actually made with Electron so it's nice to see that there are more actual non-Electron note apps out there.
Collected discussion
I doubt that you'll ever find an alternative given your very specific requirements. It's time to embrace that your laptop is a potato. You may consider upgrading it. Also one solution for older hardware is linux with XFCE desktop environment. Will save you a lot of resources.
I already upgraded 4 years ago but I'm the type to not let go a perfectly working device despite being slow. Plus, old games play better on that laptop such that I don't need mods to make them playable. I plan to switch back to Linux after win10 EOS next year if that laptop is still working.
Yeah, I'm impressed with its features. Had I discovered this first instead of OneNote 15 years ago then I might have stuck with CherryTree instead.
perfectly working I'm thinking you may not understand the meaning of that phrase. ;-) I get it, though.
Thanks for this suggestion. I don't know if it being built on Rust would make it light enough for my old laptop but I do hope it does. Its features seems like it's no different from Obsidian.
I'd suggest you try it. I built it because Obsidian, and others didn't fit.
Seems to be built on electron and it's subscription-based rather than a one-time pay.
Its paid features can be done for free on CherryNote and I also don't use tags that much but I'll also check this out and see.
Copilot integration. I don't want my data to be used for AI training. There's also the lack of Linux support in case I move back to Linux next year. I can't even run any versions of OneNote with wine. The notes I want to edit are locally stored so the web version is a no go. I'll give the apps you suggested a try but emacs might be too advanced for me (I'm not a coder).
Already did before the change of main devs. It's actually one of the apps I was considering before I went to Obsidian. The lack of stable dev support back then was what made me go with Obsidian. Plus, unlike Obsidian, I'm still confused on setting up custom directory of the database location without resorting to batch file or editing environmental variables. Trilium is also made with electron so I'm sure I'll get eventual slowdowns in that app the more notes I add there.
I can't seem to find the windows installer for this one. I tried the jar file and also installed Java desktop version but I'm getting a A Java Exception has occurred. error when I try to launch it.
I'm gravitating towards your app despite it being new. It's almost like a modernized version of CherryTree. Here are my comments from testing it: it lacks ability to create subpages (I wish it could at least have 1 level just like in OneNote) I can't link to a specific paragraph/block of a note it would be nice to be able to manually sort the notes rather than being restricted to date created/edited or by note name I wish it's possible to set the directory where the data file would be stored rather than being stuck in the same directory as where the app is installed the toolbar in the editor could be merged into a single line when launched in maximized window (there's a lot of whitespace after the Record Audio button) callouts/alerts would be nice to have well, encryption too is missing but I'm aware that this is hard to implement. But given how fast this app launches, launching Cryptomator in the background won't be problematic. a documentation of the features (like how to use them) is needed. I have to read the changelogs in your releases to learn how backlinks work but I can't find the one about how to do the screenshot rail like in the sample notes. Overall, I hope you could keep developing this. It's fast thanks to it being native which makes it friendly to low-spec devices. Keep up the good work. Edit: I noticed that your releases are labeled for Windows 11. I tested your app on Windows 10.
i'd give CherryTree another shot the UI is dated but it's fast, reliable, and native apps like this are pretty rare now.
The playablity of games is a Windows issue, you can pretty easily solve it when you move to Proton on Linux.
HelixNotes
https://github.com/aungkokomm/MyNotebook Have a look if it fits your need, not all features you asked meet.
I think Notesnook checks most of these, not sure about the more specific requirements but worth giving it a trial run
Have you tried CintaNotes? It hasn't been updated in a while, but it was one of the far older notetaking apps and may perform fine on your computer.
https://keenwrite.com/ Everything but password protection. (I'm the author.)
What's wrong with OneNote itself? Try old-school classic native apps: WikidPad, WinOrganizer, Org-mode (Emacs).
Maybe triliumnotes.org
I’d give CherryTree another shot even if the UI is dated cause it’s fast and reliable. Native apps like it are pretty rare. If you’re sticking to your old laptop, grabbing an app that suits its speed is key
Octarine
Maybe https://triliumnotes.org/
Ignore the "your laptop is a potato" replies - there are genuinely good non-Electron options, and the nice part is Obsidian just stores plain .md files in a folder, so you don't even have to migrate. Point a lighter editor at the same vault folder and you keep every note: QOwnNotes (Qt) - markdown, reads/writes plain files, so you can literally open your existing Obsidian folder with it. Very light, optional Nextcloud/ownCloud sync. Zim Desktop Wiki (GTK) - wiki-style, plain-text storage, handles images, runs fine on ancient hardware. CherryTree (GTK) - if you want more of a rich-text/outliner feel with images inline. On the slowdown specifically: Obsidian gets sluggish because it renders/previews embedded images, which is brutal on a 13-year-old machine. A lighter app that shows images as links (or only renders the current note) sidesteps it - if you go QOwnNotes, keep images linked rather than embedded and it stays snappy. All three are free and non-Electron, and QOwnNotes in particular means zero migration since it's the same markdown files.