TaskNote vs Notesnook

In short

Notesnook and TaskNote agree on the important part: your notes should be unreadable to the company that stores them. They part ways on what else belongs in the window and on how many platforms it has to run.

What Notesnook does better

Notesnook is the closest thing to us in this list. Here is where it is ahead.

Encryption is zero-knowledge and on by default, including on the free plan.
It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and the browser.
Privacy is the whole product rather than a feature bolted on later.
Reminders are built in there too.

Where TaskNote is different

The difference is not the encryption. It is what sits beside the notes.

A kanban board lives in the same app, so a note and the task it becomes stay together.
The Windows build runs with no account at all, entirely on your machine.
Notes and tasks share one search and one set of folders.

Two different products, and the difference matters

TaskNote comes in two forms, and they protect your notes in different ways.

Web app

End-to-end encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Your notes are encrypted on your device before they are sent.
The server stores ciphertext and holds no key that can read it.
Syncs across devices. Needs an account.
Runs in any browser, on any operating system.

Windows app

A separate application. Everything stays on your computer.
No account, no sync, no server. It works with the network switched off.
You can set a password for launching the app. It is optional.

Side by side

	Notesnook	TaskNote
Encryption in the cloud version	End-to-end, on by default	End-to-end, on by default
Kanban boards	Not built in	Built in
Reminders	Built in	Built in
Works with no account at all	No	Yes, in the Windows app
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, web	Web and Windows

So which one

Choose Notesnook if:

You need macOS, Linux, iOS or Android.
Notes are all you want, and a board would only be clutter.
You want a company whose single subject is privacy.

Choose TaskNote if:

You want a kanban board without opening a second app.
You are on Windows and would rather not create an account.
Your notes and your tasks keep referring to each other.

Frequently asked questions

Both are end-to-end encrypted. What is the difference?

The destination. Notesnook is a notes app; TaskNote is notes plus a kanban board and reminders, so a line of a note can become a task with a due date. If you only write, either works; if you also need to do, TaskNote.

Can I move notes from Notesnook to TaskNote?

Yes. In Notesnook, Settings, Export all notes, format Markdown. Then in TaskNote press Ctrl+K, Import, pick Markdown and select the files or the zip.

What is free in each?

TaskNote is free with 50 notes, 3 boards and 10 folders, and formatting, templates and themes are free. Notesnook's free plan limits notebooks, tags and attachments; the paid plan lifts them.

Is TaskNote open source like Notesnook?

No. If auditable code is a requirement, Notesnook is the right pick. TaskNote documents its encryption and exports every note as Markdown, so nothing is locked in.

Is there a Windows app?

Yes, and it is different from the web app: a native program with a local database, no account, works offline, with a one-time Lifetime licence instead of a subscription.