Free, open-source alternatives to Google Keep

Google Keep is built for quick capture: short notes, checklists, photos and voice memos that you can pin, colour, label and attach reminders to, synced between phone, computer and the web. The open-source notes apps below cover the same core job on the Mac: quick notes that sync to your other devices, organised with tags or notebooks and found again through search.

Simplenote is the closest in spirit, a lightweight plain-text service organised by tags, with optional Markdown. Standard Notes and Notesnook encrypt notes end to end before they sync, and Joplin adds notebooks, to-dos and a choice of sync targets, including services you run yourself. All four also have phone apps, so a note taken on the go is waiting on the Mac.