# Standard Notes Published January 1, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026 End-to-end encrypted notes app Category: Productivity · Free · Open source · Replaces Bear ($30/yr) · [Official website](https://standardnotes.com) ## Install with Homebrew `brew install --cask standard-notes` ## Quick take August 2026 Standard Notes is still the clearest hosted zero-knowledge notes pick on Mac: alive under Proton, priced at $0 / $90 / $120, and shipping Apple Silicon desktops. Pay for Productivity if you need Super notes; jump to Professional for encrypted files and family sharing. Skip it if you want Obsidian plugins or Apple Notes convenience without a privacy threat model. Best for: Journalists, founders, and researchers who need E2EE by default, Households that can split Professional’s five seats, Users leaving Evernote/Notion for auditability ## What is Standard Notes? Standard Notes is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted notes app for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and web. Acquired by Proton AG in April 2024, it remains a separate product in August 2026 with its own pricing, not folded into Proton Unlimited. Desktop builds continue to ship (3.201.x Mac arm64/x64 DMGs in July 2026), keeping Apple Silicon Macs and modern macOS releases supported. Official plans on standardnotes.com/plans: Standard (Free) with E2EE plain-text notes, unlimited device sync, offline access, tags, optional note passwords, 2FA, and daily encrypted email backups. Productivity is $90/year and unlocks Super notes (markdown, rich text, checklists, code), spreadsheets, Daily Notebooks, authenticator, folders, web clipper, and 1-year note history. Professional is $120/year with everything in Productivity plus 100GB encrypted files, sharing across up to 5 accounts, offline files, local file backups, Moments, maximum history, and hardware security keys. Student discount 30%; Productivity refunds 14 days, Professional 90 days. Encryption uses XChaCha20-Poly1305 client-side. The pitch is longevity and zero-knowledge privacy over flashy AI notebooks. Rivals include Obsidian (local-first plugins), Joplin, Apple Notes, Bear, and Proton’s broader suite. Choose Standard Notes when threat model and auditability beat Notion-style collaboration. Install from standardnotes.com or Homebrew, keep the key backup offline, and decide Free versus Productivity based on whether plain text is enough for your daily writing. ## Features - **End-to-end encryption by default.** Notes are encrypted on the client with XChaCha20-Poly1305. Keys derive from your password via Argon2. Servers (hosted or self-hosted) store ciphertext you cannot read without the password. That zero-knowledge design is the product’s centre of gravity: a server breach should not yield readable notes. Privacy is enforced by cryptography, not by a policy PDF alone. - **Modular editors.** Different notes can use different editors. Super handles rich text and markdown (including image alignment options added in 2025). Code adds syntax highlighting. Spreadsheet covers tabular data. Token handles authenticator codes. A Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+:) switches editors and jumps notes quickly. One app can be a journal, a snippet box, and a lightweight project pad without forcing a single document model. Power users who live in the Command Palette will feel closer to a modern IDE hop than to a sticky-notes toy. - **Note History.** Automatic snapshots let you restore older versions of a note. Paid plans extend how far history goes; Professional aims at maximum retention. Writers and developers who delete a section by mistake get a recovery path that is not ‘hope Time Machine was running.’ History runs in the background without a manual checkpoint ritual. - **Cross-platform sync.** First-class clients cover macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web. Start a memo on a Mac, edit on Android on the train, finish on a Linux box at home. Sync is account-based and works offline with later reconciliation. You are not locked into Apple-only notes if your threat model needs the same vault everywhere. - **Self-hosting.** You can run the sync server yourself with Docker and official docs. That is uncommon among polished note apps and matters for admins who want data residency control while keeping the same clients. The official cloud remains the easy path; self-hosting is the sovereignty path. - **Encrypted files and attachments.** Paid Professional storage (100GB) extends encryption to documents, images, and other files attached to notes. Think sensitive PDFs and scans living beside the note that explains them, not in a separate unencrypted drive folder. Offline files and local backups show up on higher plans for field work. - **Two-factor authentication.** 2FA protects the account that unlocks your encrypted vault. If a password leaks through reuse or phishing, the second factor still blocks trivial account takeover. Hardware security keys on Professional raise that bar further for high-risk users. ## How to Install Standard Notes on Mac Install Standard Notes from the website DMG, Homebrew, or the Mac App Store. Prefer arm64 builds on Apple Silicon. 1. **Download the installer.** On standardnotes.com choose Download. Grab the arm64 DMG on Apple Silicon or x64 on Intel, or run `brew install --cask standard-notes`, or install from the Mac App Store. 2. **Install the application.** Open the DMG and drag Standard Notes into Applications. App Store and Homebrew installs update through those channels. 3. **Create an account and choose a strong password.** Launch the app and register. Your password derives encryption keys. Standard Notes cannot reset it for you. Lose the password and you lose the data. ## Pros - Genuine zero-knowledge E2EE with open-source clients and published cryptography (XChaCha20-Poly1305). - Free tier is usable forever for plain-text encrypted sync - not a hostile trial. - Productivity ($90/yr) and Professional ($120/yr) stay simple annual pricing after the Proton acquisition. - Professional adds 100GB encrypted files and 5-account sharing without a separate drive product. - Active 2026 desktop releases for Mac arm64/x64 under Proton-backed engineering. - Hardware security keys and long revision history on Professional. ## Cons - Free tier lacks Super notes - serious writing needs the $90 Productivity plan. - Electron desktop footprint is heavier than Apple Notes or Bear. - Collaboration is privacy-first, not Notion-style realtime multiplayer. - Still a separate bill from Proton Unlimited despite common ownership. - Plugin ecosystem is intentionally smaller than Obsidian’s. ## Standard Notes architecture and ecosystem Standard Notes is easier to judge if you look at architecture, not only screenshots. The server is intentionally dumb: it stores encrypted items and does not need to understand note contents. The client on your Mac encrypts, decrypts, and searches locally. That is why private search works without shipping plaintext to a vendor ranker, and why very large vaults lean on local CPU. Under Proton since 2024, the app kept separate plans through August 2026. That independence is documented in Proton and Standard Notes posts: do not assume Unlimited includes Professional. Budget $0, $90, or $120 on its own line item. Desktop 3.201.x builds in July 2026 show the Mac arm64 channel is alive. Listed blogging can publish from a private note to the public web when you choose, which is a sharp boundary: encrypted until publish. Extensions run sandboxed so a third-party editor is not free to exfiltrate the vault. Those constraints explain why the plugin world is smaller than Obsidian’s and why some users prefer that trade. For Mac users coming from Apple Notes, expect less system integration and more deliberate security prompts. Touch ID unlock helps daily friction; it does not replace remembering the master password. For Obsidian migrants, accept that you are trading plugin surface for hosted E2EE simplicity. Hybrid setups exist (export, parallel vaults) but the clean choice is usually one primary system for sensitive text. Student discounts (30%) matter if you are on Productivity for Super notes during a thesis year. Professional’s five-seat sharing is the family or tiny-team plan, not a full company knowledge base. If you need realtime multiplayer editing, look elsewhere; if you need encrypted sync your threat model can explain, stay here. Refund policy is friendlier on Professional (90 days) than Productivity (14 days), which matches the higher file-storage commitment. Students should apply the 30% discount at purchase rather than assuming it auto-applies. Hardware security keys on Professional are worth enabling if you already use them for email and password managers; they close the account-takeover path that pure password 2FA apps leave open on a compromised phone. When comparing total cost of ownership with Obsidian Sync, remember Obsidian’s core app is free and Sync is optional, while Standard Notes Free already includes E2EE sync for plain text. The $90 Productivity plan is really a Super-editor and history purchase. That framing keeps people from feeling ‘forced’ into paid tiers for basic encrypted notes. ## FAQ ### How much does Standard Notes cost in 2026? Free Standard plan, Productivity $90/year, Professional $120/year on standardnotes.com/plans, with a 30% student discount. ### Did Proton shut down Standard Notes? No. Proton acquired Standard Notes in 2024; as of August 2026 it remains a separate app and subscription with ongoing desktop releases. ### Is the free plan enough? Yes for encrypted plain-text sync and tags. Markdown/rich Super notes, spreadsheets, and long history require Productivity or higher. ### What does Professional add? 100GB encrypted file storage, up to five shared accounts, maximum note history, hardware security keys, Moments, and a 90-day refund window. ### Does it run on Apple Silicon Macs? Yes. Official Mac arm64 and x64 builds ship in the 3.201.x desktop line (July 2026 tags on GitHub). ### How is data encrypted? Notes and files are encrypted client-side with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before sync; Standard Notes cannot read plaintext contents. ### Is Standard Notes included in Proton Unlimited? No. Proton has stated Standard Notes keeps its own plans and pricing. ### Can I get a refund? Productivity: 100% within 14 days. Professional: within 90 days, per the official plans FAQ. ## Sources - [Standard Notes Plans](https://standardnotes.com/plans) - [Standard Notes Review 2026 - EuropeanStack](https://europeanstack.com/software/standard-notes) - [Joining forces with Proton - Standard Notes blog](https://standardnotes.com/blog/joining-forces-with-proton) - [2025 update - what’s next](https://standardnotes.com/blog/2025-update) - [Desktop 3.201.35 release](https://github.com/standardnotes/app/releases/tag/@standardnotes/desktop@3.201.35) - [Standard Notes Review 2026 - Smart Remote Gigs](https://smartremotegigs.com/software/standard-notes/) ## Related - [Raycast](https://bundl.run/apps/raycast) - [Notion](https://bundl.run/apps/notion) - [Obsidian](https://bundl.run/apps/obsidian) - [Loom](https://bundl.run/apps/loom) - [Linear](https://bundl.run/apps/linear-linear) - [Grammarly](https://bundl.run/apps/grammarly-desktop) - [Standard Notes vs Obsidian](https://bundl.run/compare/standard-notes-vs-obsidian) - [Free alternative to Bear](https://bundl.run/https:/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://bundl.run/#organization", "name": "Bundl.run", "url": "https://bundl.run", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://bundl.run/og-image.png", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "description": "The Ninite for Mac. 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