🏆 Our Verdict
Boostnote is a powerful, open-source note-taking tool specifically designed for developers. Its focus on markdown-based notes, code snippet management, and seamless organization makes it a go-to choice for programmers and technical users. While it lacks the advanced multimedia features and integrations of competitors like Evernote, Boostnote excels in providing a lightweight, customizable solution for coding and technical documentation.
✅ Pros & ❌ Cons
Pros
- Developer-Focused: Designed for managing code snippets and markdown notes.
- Open-Source: Fully open-source with community-driven development.
- Cross-Platform: Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Offline-First: Fully functional without an internet connection.
- Markdown Support: Advanced markdown editor with syntax highlighting.
- Free to Use: No subscription fees or premium tiers.
Cons
- Limited Integrations: Lacks integration with major productivity tools like Google Drive or Slack.
- No Real-Time Collaboration: Not suitable for team-based note-taking or collaboration.
- Basic UI Design: Minimalistic interface may feel outdated to some users.
- Multimedia Limitations: Lacks robust support for images, audio, or video notes.
- Learning Curve: Advanced features may overwhelm non-technical users.
📖 About
Boostnote is an open-source note-taking application tailored for developers and technical professionals. Originally designed to manage code snippets, Boostnote has expanded to support markdown-based documentation and task management. Its offline-first design and focus on coding make it a preferred choice for developers who want a lightweight yet powerful note-taking solution.
🗓️ How It Works
1. Create an Account, Download and Install
Boostnote is available for free on https://boostnote.io/ for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
2. Create Notes
Capture ideas using markdown or save reusable code snippets in structured folders.
3. Organize Content
Use tags and folders to categorize notes for easy retrieval.
4. Customize Your Workflow
Choose from various themes and editor configurations to match your preferences.
5. Sync Across Devices
Manually synchronize notes using third-party storage solutions like Dropbox or Google Drive.
6. Collaborate via Git
Leverage Git integration for version control and team collaboration.
💲 Pricing Overview
Boost Note offers three pricing plans to cater to different user needs:
Free Plan
LOOKING FOR A ONE-STOP SOLUTION TO YOUR GROWTH NEEDS?
- Cost: $0 per member/month
- Features:
- 14-day free trial
- No credit card required
Standard Plan
- Cost:
- $6 per member/month (monthly billing)
- $5 per member/month (yearly billing, save up to 20%)
- Features:
- Unlimited documents
- Unlimited dashboards
- 7-day version history
- PDF exporting
- 1 GB storage per member
- 200 MB per upload
- Support from the Boost Note team
Pro Plan
- Cost:
- $10 per member/month (monthly billing)
- $8 per member/month (yearly billing, save up to 20%)
- Features:
- All Standard Plan features
- Unlimited version history
- Private folders
- 10 GB storage per member
- Advanced public sharing
- Priority support
Additional Information:
- Members: Can create and edit items.
- Viewers: Free; can view and comment on documents.
- Billing: Both monthly and yearly options are available, with yearly billing offering up to a 20% discount.
- Payment Processing: Handled securely through Stripe.
- Trial Period: After the 14-day free trial, users can read existing documents but cannot add or edit documents without upgrading to a paid plan.
For more details, visit the Boost Note Pricing Page.
🥊 Competition
| Feature | Boostnote | Evernote |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free tier, Premium starts at $7.99/month |
| Developer Focus | Tailored for coding and markdown notes | Not designed specifically for developers |
| Offline Access | Fully functional offline | Limited offline functionality on free plan |
| Collaboration | Git-based version control | Real-time collaboration supported |
| Markdown Support | Advanced | Basic markdown support |
| Multimedia Notes | Limited | Supports images, audio, and PDFs |
| Customization | High via themes and configurations | Limited customization options |
| Ease of Use | Requires technical knowledge | Beginner-friendly |
📌 Conclusion
Boostnote is an excellent choice for developers and technical users seeking a lightweight, markdown-based note-taking tool. While it may not have the advanced integrations and multimedia capabilities of competitors like Evernote, its developer-focused features and open-source nature make it a standout solution for managing code snippets and technical documentation.
Boostnote: The Ultimate Note-Taking Tool for Developers
Boost Note vs Obsidian: which fits a developer in 2026?
Obsidian gets most of the attention in the markdown-notes category, but Boost Note is built for a different audience. Obsidian is a graph-first knowledge tool that rewards heavy linking and a stable vault. Boost Note is a code-first scratchpad: syntax highlighting on every block and a built-in markdown preview that handles Mermaid and PlantUML diagrams without a plugin install.
The developer workflow Boost Note is good at
Two workflows where Boost Note pulls ahead. Capturing shell snippets while you debug a service: the code-block editor behaves like an IDE, not a word processor, and the snippet notes give one-off scripts somewhere to live. Keeping a personal runbook on a locked-down work laptop: cloud sync is optional, so a machine with restricted network egress still runs offline-first.
When to pick something else
Boost Note is the wrong tool if your notes are mostly prose or if you live inside a team wiki. Reach for StackEdit when you want browser-based markdown with Google Drive sync, or MarkdownPad 2 on Windows for a desktop editor with live HTML preview. Boost Note keeps its edge for engineers who want an editor that thinks in code blocks first and prose second.
Boostnote FAQ
Is Boostnote discontinued? The original Boostnote desktop app is no longer actively developed. The team moved work to Boost Note (boostnote.io), sometimes called Boost Note Next, which is the version that still gets updates. If you are downloading it fresh in 2026, use the boostnote.io build rather than the archived original.
Is Boostnote free and open source? Yes. The app is free to download and its source is public. There is a paid cloud tier for hosted sync and shared team spaces, but the editor itself costs nothing and runs fine as a local-only notebook.
What is the best Boostnote alternative? It depends on what you want back. Obsidian if you care about linked notes and a large plugin ecosystem. Joplin if you want end-to-end encryption. Zettlr if you write research-heavy Markdown. All three are Markdown-first and work offline, so notes stay in plain files you control.
Does Boostnote work offline and across platforms? The desktop app keeps notes locally and runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Code blocks get proper syntax highlighting, which is the main reason developers reach for it over a general note app. Cross-device sync is the part the hosted cloud tier handles.
Moving on from Boostnote: alternatives and how to migrate
If your notes still live in the original Boostnote app, the data is not trapped. Boostnote stored notes as plain Markdown files in a local folder you chose at setup, so the simplest migration is to copy that folder into any Markdown native app and keep working.
For a like for like developer experience, Boost Note (the maintained successor at boostnote.io) imports the same Markdown and keeps the code block focus. If you want a larger ecosystem, Obsidian reads a folder of Markdown files directly, so you can point it at your old Boostnote directory and the notes show up with no export step. Joplin is the closest open source match for anyone who wants built in sync and end to end encryption without paying for a hosted tier.
Whatever you pick, export first. Open Boostnote, confirm your storage folder path in settings, and back that folder up before you change anything. Because the format is plain Markdown, you are never locked in, which is the main reason developers liked Boostnote in the first place.
Boostnote vs the alternatives: a quick comparison
If you are weighing Boostnote against the other Markdown notebooks developers reach for, here is how the main options line up in 2026.
| App | Still maintained | Price | Works offline | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boostnote (original) | No, archived | Free | Yes | Existing users on an older install |
| Boost Note (boostnote.io) | Yes | Free, paid cloud sync | Yes | The current Boostnote line, with team spaces |
| Obsidian | Yes | Free, paid sync and publish | Yes | Linked notes and a large plugin library |
| Joplin | Yes | Free, open source | Yes | End-to-end encrypted notes |
| Zettlr | Yes | Free, open source | Yes | Citations and long-form research writing |
Which one should you pick? If you already run the original Boostnote and just want it to keep working, stay put. Your notes are plain Markdown files, so nothing is locked in. If you want the maintained version of the same idea, move to Boost Note at boostnote.io. Starting fresh and care about connecting notes to each other? Obsidian has the deepest ecosystem. Pick Joplin when encryption is the priority, and Zettlr when most of your writing is research with references.
How to export your Boostnote notes and move to a maintained app
Boostnote’s original app is archived, so the sensible thing is to pull your notes out as plain files you control, then bring them into something that still gets updates. Here is what works for most installs.
1. Find your storage folder
Open Boostnote and check Preferences for the storage path. Older desktop builds save each note as a .cson or .md file in a folder you chose at setup. If you never changed it, look for a “Boostnote” folder under Documents.
2. Convert .cson notes to Markdown
Anything already saved as .md is portable as is. For .cson notes, open each one and use File then Export to save it as Markdown or PDF. If you have a big library, the community “boostnote-to-markdown” scripts on GitHub can convert a whole folder at once.
3. Back up before you migrate
Copy the exported Markdown folder somewhere else, like a cloud drive or an external disk, before you import anything. That copy is your safety net if an import goes sideways.
4. Import into your next app
Most maintained alternatives read Markdown straight away. In Boost Note, Obsidian, or Joplin, point the importer at your exported folder and the notes arrive with their headings and code blocks intact. Obsidian can skip the import entirely and open the folder as a vault.
Once the notes open cleanly and the formatting looks right, you can retire the old install. Hold on to the backup folder for a few weeks until you are sure nothing went missing.
Is Boostnote still safe to use in 2026?
Because the original Boostnote app is archived, a fair question before you rely on it is whether it is still safe to keep on your machine. The short answer: your notes are fine, but treat the old desktop build as frozen software.
Your notes stay yours
Boostnote saves notes as plain Markdown files on your own disk, not in a company cloud that could be switched off. Even with the app archived, those files open in any text editor, so nothing is locked away or at risk of vanishing.
What archived actually changes
An archived app stops getting updates, which means no new security patches. For a local, offline notebook that does not log into anything, that risk is low, but it is real over time. If you store sensitive material, that is the reason to plan a move rather than stay forever.
The safer long-term path
The maintained successor, Boost Note, and other Markdown-first apps read the same files, so you can keep working today and migrate when it suits you. Keep a backup of your Markdown folder either way.
What developers reached for Boostnote to do
Boostnote was never trying to be a second brain or a team wiki. It was a place to keep the notes that pile up while you are actually building something, and a few habits made it stick for developer users.
A searchable snippet drawer
The most common use was a personal library of code snippets. A regex you know you will need again, a working docker-compose block, the curl command that finally hit the right endpoint. Each one went into its own note inside a fenced code block, so the syntax highlighting held and a quick search pulled it back weeks later.
Tags instead of folders
Rather than nesting folders, most people leaned on tags. A single note could be tagged “bash”, “deploy” and “work-laptop” at once, which matches how this kind of reference material actually gets recalled. You search by the thing you remember, not by where you filed it.
Markdown you could take anywhere
Because every note was plain Markdown saved to a local folder, nothing was locked in. You could grep the files from a terminal, sync them with whatever you already used, and read them offline on a train. That same portability is why moving to a maintained app later is painless.
The original desktop app is now archived and active work continues on the boostnote.io fork, but these are the workflows worth recreating in whatever you pick next.