Standard Notes: end-to-end encryption before anything else
Notes are encrypted on your device before they leave it. The developer cannot read them even under legal pressure — and that costs you convenience.
Standard Notes is built around one guarantee: text is encrypted on your device, and the server only ever holds an unreadable block. The company cannot read your notes if it wants to, or if it is ordered to.
Who genuinely needs this
People whose notes must not leak under any circumstances — legal drafts, medical records, journalism sources. For a shopping list it is overkill, and the app is honest enough that this shows.
What privacy costs
Search speed. Searching happens over data decrypted on the device. With thousands of notes you feel it.
Formatting. The free editor is plain text. Markdown, tables and attachments sit behind the subscription.
No password recovery, ever. A forgotten password means a lost archive. This is not an oversight — it follows directly from the fact that only you hold the keys.
92 MB, and 3,711 ratings at 4.7 — a small, satisfied audience.
More on switching is in: Evernote alternatives: where to move and what breaks.
Common questions
- Is Standard Notes available on Android?
- No. The app ships for iPhone and iPad only, and we could not confirm a Google Play package. Similarly named apps on Google Play come from other developers and are not the same program.
- What languages does Standard Notes support?
- Of the languages this site covers, the App Store lists: English. The store page shows the full list for your region.
- Is Standard Notes free?
- Standard Notes is free outright: no subscription and no in-app purchases are listed in the App Store.