Apple Notes is free, fast, and already sitting on your iPhone. It also stops at the edge of the Apple world, and Apple can read your notes unless you lock them one by one or switch on Advanced Data Protection. NotePrivate encrypts every note with a key only you hold and runs natively on macOS and Windows. This NotePrivate comparison puts it next to five other Apple Notes alternatives, with each price read from the vendor's own site.
Prices read from each vendor's own site on 1 October 2026 · Named products are market context, not endorsements
NotePrivate is the Apple Notes alternative for people who want every note encrypted under their own key and open on a Windows PC as well as a Mac. Apple's own iCloud data security overview lists Notes under standard data protection as encrypted in transit and on server with the keys stored by Apple, and end to end only once you turn on Advanced Data Protection. NotePrivate encrypts every note on your own disk with a master key wrapped by your password, that password never leaves your device, and the app opens with no connection at all. NotePrivate is planned at $59 a year with every feature included and one license for a Mac and a Windows PC, and it is waitlist only, not on sale yet. What NotePrivate does not do: handwriting, Apple Pencil, document scanning, shared notes, Android or Linux, and there is no iPhone or iPad app yet, though an iPhone companion is in progress. If your notes live on an iPhone and never leave it, Apple Notes is still the right tool, and this NotePrivate page is not going to pretend otherwise.
Sources for this Apple Notes summary: Apple's "iCloud data security overview" support page, plus the Notesnook, Standard Notes, Obsidian and Joplin download pages, all read 1 October 2026. Named products are market context, not reviews or endorsements. The NotePrivate price is planned, not live.
Apple Notes and the six alternatives this NotePrivate comparison covers, NotePrivate included. The encryption column asks one question: is every note end-to-end encrypted before you change a single setting?
| App | Encrypted by default | How sync works | Platforms | Price, read 1 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NotePrivate | YesVault encrypted on disk from first launch | Optional, as ciphertext through a cloud folder you already use | macOS, Windows | $59/year planned, waitlist only |
| Apple Notes | PartialLocked notes, or every note once Advanced Data Protection is on | iCloud | iPhone, iPad, Mac; iCloud.com in a browser | Free with an Apple device |
| Bear | PartialSingle notes with Bear Pro note encryption; Advanced Data Protection supported | iCloud, a Bear Pro feature | iPhone, iPad, Mac; Bear Web in a browser, launched as a public beta | Free without sync; Bear Pro $2.99/month or $29.99/year |
| Obsidian | NoLocal vault is plain Markdown files | Paid Obsidian Sync with end-to-end encryption, or your own file sync | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Free; Sync $4/month billed annually |
| Notesnook | YesFree plan included | Notesnook sync | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, web | Free; Essential $1.99/month; Pro $6.99/month, less billed yearly |
| Standard Notes | Yes | Standard Notes account | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, web | Free plain text; Productivity $90/year; Professional $120/year |
| Joplin | NoEnd-to-end encryption exists, you enable it yourself | Joplin Cloud, or a target such as OneDrive or Nextcloud | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Free app; Joplin Cloud Basic €2.99/month or €28.69/year |
Sources for this Apple Notes alternatives table, all read 1 October 2026: Apple's "iCloud data security overview" support page; Bear's FAQ "Features and price of Bear Pro", the bear.app home page and Bear's Bear Web public beta announcement; obsidian.md/pricing and obsidian.md/download; notesnook.com/pricing and notesnook.com/downloads; standardnotes.com/plans and standardnotes.com/download; joplinapp.org/plans, joplinapp.org/download and Joplin's end-to-end encryption help page. Bear notes that its prices vary by country. The NotePrivate price is planned, not live. Joplin is covered in more depth in the Joplin alternatives NotePrivate compared.
Six reasons that come up again and again, and they do not all point at the same replacement.
Apple Notes gives you end to end encryption in two places: notes you personally lock with a password, and everything in iCloud once you turn on Advanced Data Protection. Neither is the default state of a new device, so most people's notes are readable on Apple's side without them ever choosing that. NotePrivate encrypts every note with a key wrapped by your password before it touches the disk, with no setting to remember.
There is no Apple Notes app for Windows and none for Android. On a PC your only route is iCloud.com in a browser tab, which means a connection, a login, and no local copy of anything. NotePrivate is a native app on both macOS and Windows, and one license covers the pair, which the encrypted notes app for Windows page goes through in detail.
Apple Notes does export Markdown now: the feature arrived with macOS 26 Tahoe and iOS 26, and Apple's current Notes guide lists File > Export To with PDF or Markdown as the formats. Export several notes at once and the folder structure is not recreated, per AppleInsider's macOS Tahoe walkthrough, so years of notes come out as one flat pile. NotePrivate exports the whole vault, or every note as Markdown, in one action, and the encrypted Markdown notes page covers what that file layout looks like.
Dated entries, therapy notes, things you would not want read at a funeral: for plenty of people that is exactly what the locked folder in Apple Notes holds. NotePrivate encrypts those the same way it encrypts a shopping list, and the private journal app page covers what changes when the entries are under your own key.
Rich text, checklists, tables, and a scan. That covers a lot, and then you want a snippet of code with syntax highlighting, a quick budget, or a one-time code you do not want in a screenshot. NotePrivate holds rich text, Markdown, code, spreadsheets, one-time codes and saved web pages in the same encrypted vault.
Your notes go where Apple's sync goes, on Apple's terms and Apple's storage plan. NotePrivate syncs through a cloud folder you already pay for, and what lands there is ciphertext your provider cannot read. If you would rather not sync at all, the app is complete on one machine.
More people search for Apple Notes on Windows than for an Apple Notes alternative outright: about 320 searches a month for "apple notes windows" against 70 for "apple notes alternative" in Google Ads data. This is the honest state of Apple Notes on a PC, and where NotePrivate fits.
Apple ships no Notes application for Windows. The supported route is signing in at iCloud.com and using Notes inside a browser tab, which works, and which also means you need a connection every time, you re-authenticate more often than you would like, and nothing is stored on the PC for the flight home. Notes you locked with a password in Apple Notes add another prompt in that same tab.
People arriving from a bought-a-work-PC situation usually want one of two things: their existing Apple Notes on the PC, or a notes app that treats a Mac and a PC as equals. Apple Notes can only really offer the first, and only through the browser.
NotePrivate is a native application on Windows and on macOS, and the same encrypted vault opens on both. One license, planned at $59 a year, covers the pair, so a work PC and a home Mac are not two purchases. The vault lives on the machine in front of you, which means it opens with the wifi off, and sync is optional and runs through your own cloud folder carrying ciphertext.
Where NotePrivate loses to Apple Notes on this: there is no NotePrivate app for iPhone or iPad yet, an iPhone companion is in progress, and Apple Notes is on every Apple device you own today. If your setup is iPad plus Windows PC, NotePrivate covers the Windows half only. See the encrypted notes app for Windows page for the Windows detail.
Every Google autocomplete suggestion for "apple notes alternative for" is a device. Here is where NotePrivate fits on each one, and which Apple Notes alternative to pick where NotePrivate does not. Windows has its own section above.
Apple Notes has no Android app and NotePrivate has none either, so NotePrivate is the wrong pick for an Android phone. Notesnook, Standard Notes, Obsidian and Joplin all list Android on their own download pages, and of those four, Notesnook and Standard Notes encrypt every note by default, free plan included. If you are moving from an iPhone to an Android phone, export your Apple Notes as Markdown first, since all four of those apps read Markdown files.
Apple Notes has no Linux app, only iCloud.com in a browser, and NotePrivate is macOS and Windows only. Notesnook, Standard Notes and Obsidian each ship a Linux AppImage on their download pages, and Joplin lists a Linux desktop app. Joplin is free and open source, though its end-to-end encryption stays off until you enable it on one device and sync, per Joplin's own help page.
On a Mac, Apple Notes is already installed, so NotePrivate has to earn its place. NotePrivate is a native Mac app with Touch ID sign in, auto-lock on idle and on sleep, and every note encrypted inside the vault on your disk, where Apple Notes keeps notes readable on Apple's side unless you lock them or switch on Advanced Data Protection. If your complaint about Apple Notes is the writing experience rather than the keys, Bear is the Mac favourite, at $29.99 a year for Bear Pro per Bear's FAQ.
NotePrivate has no iPhone app yet. An iPhone companion with encrypted iCloud sync is in progress, and until it ships NotePrivate cannot replace Apple Notes in your pocket. On iPhone today, Notesnook and Standard Notes are the Apple Notes alternatives that encrypt every note by default, and Bear and Obsidian are the picks if privacy is not why you are leaving. Apple Notes itself can also lock individual notes behind Face ID or your device passcode.
Six questions worth answering before you move a single note, with where NotePrivate lands on each.
The question under every Apple Notes alternative. Most cloud notes apps encrypt in transit and on their own disks while keeping the keys, which is what makes server side search work. NotePrivate wraps its master key with your password and that password never leaves your device, so nobody at this end can open your notes for anyone.
Apple Notes is Apple only, so check the platform list before the feature list. NotePrivate is macOS and Windows, one license for both, with no iPhone or iPad app yet. Linux and Android users should look elsewhere: Notesnook, Standard Notes, Obsidian and Joplin all list both on their own download pages.
An Apple Notes alternative that is hard to leave has just moved the problem. NotePrivate exports the whole vault or every note as Markdown in one action, so the files open in any editor after you stop paying.
Apple Notes handles this well on an Apple device and badly in a browser tab on Windows. NotePrivate stores the vault locally on every machine it runs on, so it never asks the question, and a hotel connection does not decide whether you can read your own notes.
Count the note types you actually use before switching from Apple Notes. NotePrivate covers rich text, Markdown, code with highlighting, quick spreadsheets, one-time codes and saved web pages, and it does not cover handwriting, Apple Pencil or scanned documents.
Free means someone else's servers and someone else's keys, which is a fair trade for a lot of notes. NotePrivate is planned at $59 a year with every feature in the box, no tiers and no upsell, and going up against a free Apple app is exactly the argument it has to win on privacy.
Most roundups mix three different products together, which is why the choice feels harder than it is. Sort yourself into a group first.
Bear and Craft are the two names that come up most from people who like the Apple world and just want a better writing surface inside it. Bear is a macOS and iOS app. The keys still sit with a vendor, so this group answers the taste complaint about Apple Notes rather than the privacy one, and NotePrivate is not in it because it also runs on Windows. If you already use Bear and want out of the Apple-only group, NotePrivate lays out the Bear alternatives compared on encryption and price.
Notion, Evernote, OneNote, Google Keep, Simplenote and Supernotes follow you onto Windows and Android because they live on a company's servers. That is a real fix for the Apple Notes platform problem and no fix at all for the key problem. Compare the two biggest directly: NotePrivate vs Notion and NotePrivate vs Evernote.
NotePrivate, Standard Notes, Joplin and Obsidian keep the notes on your machine, encrypted or encryptable, with a key you hold. NotePrivate is the macOS and Windows option, planned at $59 a year with everything included. Compare the neighbours: NotePrivate vs Standard Notes and NotePrivate vs Obsidian.
Named products are market context, not endorsements or reviews. Platform support and features change; check each vendor's site before you commit.
Convenience is nice; holding your own keys and working across Mac and Windows is better. Both columns have honest No's.
| Capability | NotePrivate | Apple Notes |
|---|---|---|
| You hold the keys | Yes | NoApple holds them by default |
| End-to-end encrypted out of the box | Yes | PartialLocked notes, or all notes with Advanced Data Protection on |
| Encrypted on your own disk | Yes | No |
| Native Windows app | Yes | NoiCloud.com in a browser only |
| Per-note password | Yes | Yes |
| Works with no connection | Yes | PartialYes on Apple devices, no in the browser |
| Sync through your own cloud folder | Yes | NoiCloud only |
| Code, spreadsheet, one-time-code notes | Yes | No |
| Markdown notes | Yes | PartialImports and exports Markdown files, writes rich text |
| Full export, no lock-in | Yes | PartialMarkdown or PDF, folders not recreated |
| Import from other apps | Yes | Partial |
| Handwriting, Apple Pencil and scanning | No | Yes |
| iPhone and iPad app | NoiPhone companion in progress | Yes |
| Shared and collaborative notes | No | Yes |
| Price | $59/year planned | Free with an Apple device |
Apple Notes details come from Apple's "iCloud data security overview" and the Notes user guide page "Import, export, and print notes on Mac", both read 1 October 2026. Features change, so verify on Apple's site.
Apple Notes leaves your notes readable on Apple's side unless you lock them individually or turn on Advanced Data Protection. NotePrivate encrypts every note with a master key wrapped by your password, always, with nothing to enable first.
The same encrypted NotePrivate vault opens on a Mac and on a Windows PC under one license, where Apple Notes on Windows is a browser tab at iCloud.com. Details on the encrypted notes app for Windows page.
Past text and checklists: code with highlighting, quick spreadsheets, one-time codes, Markdown and saved web pages, all encrypted in the same vault. See the full NotePrivate feature list.
Apple Notes exports notes as Markdown or PDF since macOS 26 Tahoe, without recreating your folders. NotePrivate exports your whole vault, or every note as a Markdown file, in one action, and those files open in any editor afterwards.
Per-note passwords, auto-lock on idle and on sleep, Touch ID on Mac, and key rotation any time after a scare. Apple Notes offers locking too, on top of keys Apple still holds for everything else.
A lot of people keep a diary in a locked Apple Notes folder. The private journal app page covers what changes when those entries are encrypted with your own NotePrivate key instead, and the encrypted journal apps NotePrivate compared with prices covers dedicated diary apps, Apple Journal included.
The NotePrivate import side is quick. The Apple Notes export side is slower, because Apple Notes flattens your folders, and it is fair to know that first.
Straight answers, so nothing surprises you a week after the switch:
Leaving more than one app behind? The same NotePrivate importer takes Evernote .enex files, Standard Notes backups, and Google Keep and Simplenote JSON. See the Evernote alternative and Notion alternative pages.
Any comparison page that says you lose nothing is selling you something.
NotePrivate has no iOS or iPadOS app yet. An iPhone companion is in progress, and until it ships, Apple Notes owns the pocket.
Apple Pencil, sketching and the document scanner are all real Apple Notes strengths. NotePrivate has none of them and no plan to fake it.
Apple Notes lets a family share a list. NotePrivate is single player, because end to end encryption and open shared editing pull against each other.
Apple Notes costs nothing on a device you already own. NotePrivate is planned at $59 a year with everything included, and that gap is the whole argument.
Quick Note, share sheet capture and Siri dictation into Apple Notes are all deeply wired into the Apple system. NotePrivate is an app you open.
Apple Notes is on the device with your notes already in it. Switching to NotePrivate is a deliberate move, which is why the migration section above is honest about the effort.
Four questions the search results page raises next to "apple notes alternative", answered without the hedging.
Apple Notes has not shut down, and Apple keeps adding to it. iOS 26 and macOS 26 Tahoe gave Apple Notes Markdown import and export, and iOS 27 adds Copy as Markdown, divider lines, links to sections inside a note, and note creation through Siri AI on iPhone 15 Pro and later, as MacRumors and 9to5Mac reported. What has not changed is who holds the keys: Apple's iCloud data security overview still lists Notes as encrypted in transit and on server with the keys stored by Apple unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection. NotePrivate keeps every note encrypted on your own disk under a key only you hold, so no Apple Notes update changes who can read your notes.
They win in different places, and NotePrivate is a third answer to both. OneNote is free, native on Windows, strong with handwriting, and organised into notebooks and sections. Apple Notes is faster to reach on an iPhone or a Mac and tidier for short notes. Neither one is end to end encrypted by default: OneNote content sits readable inside your Microsoft account, and Apple Notes is readable on Apple's side unless you lock a note or turn on Advanced Data Protection. If privacy is the reason you are comparing them, NotePrivate encrypts every note on your machine with a key only you hold and runs natively on both macOS and Windows.
On an iPhone, Apple Notes is genuinely hard to beat for free. It is already installed, it syncs across your Apple devices, and locked notes are end to end encrypted. Google Keep and Simplenote are the free cross platform options if you also use a Windows PC or Android. NotePrivate is not the answer to this one: it is planned at $59 a year and it runs on macOS and Windows, with an iPhone companion app in progress rather than shipped. NotePrivate makes sense once a Mac or a Windows PC is where your notes really live and you want them encrypted under your own key.
It depends on whether you write with a pen or a keyboard. Notability is built around handwriting and PDF annotation on an iPad, and Apple Notes is the general purpose notes app that also handles Apple Pencil and document scanning. If pen input is the job, NotePrivate is the wrong tool too, because it is a typed notes app with no handwriting, no Apple Pencil support and no scanner. Where NotePrivate fits is the typed half of your notes, the part you would rather nobody else could read.
Yes. Apple Notes on macOS 26 Tahoe or iOS 26 and later exports notes as Markdown, and NotePrivate imports Markdown, plain text, HTML, RTF, DOCX and CSV, plus Evernote .enex files, Standard Notes backups, and Google Keep and Simplenote JSON, into the folder you choose. Apple Notes does not recreate folders when it exports several notes at once, so export one Apple Notes folder at a time and the move into NotePrivate stays tidy.
Yes, by default. Apple Notes encrypts notes you lock with a password end to end, and it encrypts everything end to end if you turn Advanced Data Protection on, but out of the box the rest of your notes are readable on Apple's side. NotePrivate encrypts every note with a master key wrapped by your password, and that password never leaves your device, so there is no setting to remember to switch on.
No. Apple ships no Notes app for Windows, so the workaround is signing in at iCloud.com and using Notes in a browser tab, which needs a connection and gives you no local copy. NotePrivate is a native app on both macOS and Windows and one license covers both machines, which is the main reason people land on this page from a search for Apple Notes for Windows.
Not yet. NotePrivate runs on macOS and Windows today and an iPhone companion app is in progress. If you need your notes on an iPhone or an iPad right now, Apple Notes still does that better, and it is worth being clear about that before you switch rather than after.
Yes, through a cloud folder you already use, and the files stay encrypted the whole way, so your provider stores ciphertext it cannot read. Apple Notes syncs through iCloud or not at all. One NotePrivate license covers a Mac and a Windows PC, so the same encrypted vault opens on both.
Yes, several. Google Keep, Simplenote and OneNote are free and cross platform, and Joplin is free and open source with encryption you can switch on. NotePrivate is planned at $59 a year with every feature included and no free tier, so if free is the deciding factor one of those is the better fit, and NotePrivate would rather say so than talk you into the wrong tool.
NotePrivate is the Apple Notes alternative for private typed notes: encrypted on your own Mac or Windows PC with a key only you hold, and exportable the day you want your files somewhere else.
NotePrivate is not on sale yet. Leave your email and we will write to you the day it opens.
NotePrivate