The verdict in one paragraph. Both apps encrypt everything on your device before it reaches their servers, both are open source, and both run on the Mac, iPhone and everywhere else. Notesnook gives you a rich editor and attachments for free and looks the more modern of the two. Standard Notes charges $90 a year for its rich editors but has a longer security record and is now part of Proton. If neither account-based model appeals, Dash (which we make, and list last here) keeps notes on the device with no account at all.
Comparison
Standard Notes vs Notesnook
Two end-to-end encrypted notes apps compared on encryption, free tiers, prices and platforms, with Dash as the option that needs no account.
Updated September 2026 · Dash teamSide by side
Checked against each vendor’s pages and repositories on 8 September 2026.
| Feature | Standard Notes | Notesnook | Dash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encrypted so the vendor cannot read notes | Locked notes; sync | ||
| Works without an account | |||
| Rich text on the free plan | Plain text | ||
| Open source | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Mac and iPhone apps | |||
| Windows and Linux apps | |||
| Lock the app; duress password | App lock | App lock | |
| Self-destructing notes | |||
| Full app, per year | $90 | $69.99 | $14.99 once |
The three apps
- 01
Standard Notes
End-to-end encrypted notes since 2016, now part of Proton. Plain and sturdy, with a free plan that covers plain-text notes and paid plans for richer editors, file storage and history.
- Best for
- A long security record and the Proton ecosystem
- Price
- Free (plain text); Productivity $90 a year; Professional $120 a year
- Privacy
- End-to-end encrypted by default; account required
- Nearly a decade of audits and a conservative design
- Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and web
- AGPL-3.0; server code published
- The free editor is plain text only
- The full app costs $90 a year
- Interface feels dated
- 02
Notesnook
A newer, more polished encrypted-by-default app. Rich text on the free plan, everything encrypted on your device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 and Argon2 before it syncs.
- Best for
- A modern encrypted app with a usable free tier
- Price
- Free; Essential $19.99 a year; Pro $69.99 a year
- Privacy
- End-to-end encrypted by default; account required
- Rich editor without paying
- Web, desktop and mobile clients
- GPL-3.0 client and server
- Younger project and team
- Free tier limits attachments to 50 MB a month
- Notes are not local files
- 03
Dash
Our appThe third option: notes that never leave your device unless you choose sync. No account, lock any note with AES-256, a lock on the whole app, and a Mac app you buy once.
- Best for
- Privacy without an account
- Price
- $14.99 once on Mac; free on iPhone and the web; sync $4.99 a month, optional
- Privacy
- Offline by default; locked notes AES-256-GCM; sync end-to-end encrypted
- No account, nothing uploaded by default
- Duress password and self-destructing notes
- Open source (MIT); Touch ID and Face ID
- No Windows or Linux app
- Encryption is per note you lock, not everything by default
- Sync is a subscription
Encrypted notes with no account to make. Dash is $14.99 once on Mac, free on iPhone.
Get Dash for MacEncryption and what the server sees
Standard Notes and Notesnook both encrypt note content on your device with a key derived from your account password, using modern primitives (Notesnook documents XChaCha20-Poly1305 with Argon2; Standard Notes uses a comparable construction in its current protocol). Their servers store ciphertext and the metadata needed to sync it. Neither vendor can read your notes, and both publish the code so you can check.
Dash takes a different route. There is no account and, by default, no server: notes are files on your Mac or iPhone. You lock the notes that need it with AES-256-GCM and a password of your own. If you turn on Dash Sync, changes are encrypted with a vault key that never leaves your devices, and the relay stores ciphertext.
Free tier and paid plans
- Standard Notes: free plan with unlimited encrypted plain-text notes. Productivity, $90 a year, adds rich editors, spreadsheets, a year of revision history and file storage. Professional, $120 a year, adds 100 GB of storage and subscription sharing.
- Notesnook: free plan with a rich editor and 50 MB of attachments a month. Essential is $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year; Pro is $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year; a Believer tier costs more and funds development.
- Dash: $14.99 once for the Mac app; the iPhone and web apps are free. The only subscription is the optional end-to-end encrypted sync at $4.99 a month or $47.99 a year.
Platforms and offline use
Standard Notes and Notesnook run on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and in the browser, and both work offline once you are signed in, syncing when a connection returns. Dash runs on Mac, iPhone and the web (Android through the web app); it is offline by design, with sync as the optional extra rather than the premise.
Open source and self-hosting
Standard Notes is AGPL-3.0 and Notesnook is GPL-3.0; both publish their server code, so the determined can self-host. Dash is MIT licensed. Its sync relay is run by Dash, but because the relay only ever holds ciphertext, self-hosting buys little that the encryption does not already give you.
Where Dash fits
Pick Standard Notes or Notesnook if you want every note encrypted automatically and synced everywhere behind one account, and you are happy to pay yearly for the full app. Pick Dash if you would rather there was no account, no upload by default, a lock you apply deliberately, a duress password for the worst day, and a Mac app you pay for once.
Pay once for the app. Sync is the only subscription.
No plan needed to take notes. Ever.
Dash for iPhone
Freeon the App Store
- Same encryption, Face ID
- Works fully offline
- No account to make
Dash Sync (optional)
$4.99/ month, or $47.99 / year
- Mac, iPhone, iPad and web in step
- Encrypted on your device first
- 7-day free trial, cancel any time
Frequently asked questions
The encrypted notes app with no account.
$14.99 once on Mac. Free on iPhone.