Productivity

Note-taking and second brain

For students, researchers and knowledge workers building a personal knowledge base. We put the main note apps first, then AI tools that work over your own sources, then open-source and self-hosted options for capture, search and archiving.

1. 1
   ObsidianAI toolLocal-first Markdown notes with backlinks, a graph view and a huge plugin ecosystem.Freemium
2. 2
   NotionAI toolDocs, wikis and databases in one workspace, with AI search across it.Freemium
3. 3
   ObsidianOpen sourceAgent skills that let Claude Code and other agents read and edit your Obsidian vault properly.★ 50.6k · MIT
4. 4
   TanaAI toolAn outliner with supertags and AI fields that turns voice notes into structured notes.Freemium
5. 5
   NotebookLMAI toolAsk questions grounded in the sources you upload, with citations back to them.Freemium
6. 6
   Open NotebookOpen sourceA private, self-hosted alternative to NotebookLM for chatting with your documents.★ 41.3k · MIT
7. 7
   MemosOpen sourceA self-hosted timeline for quick thoughts, with your data on your own server.★ 64.2k · MIT
8. 8
   Readwise ReaderAI toolSave articles, PDFs and newsletters in one place and keep your highlights.Paid
9. 9
   QMDOpen sourceLocal keyword and semantic search across your Markdown notes and transcripts.★ 30.8k · MIT
10. 10
    ArchiveBoxOpen sourceKeep permanent, self-hosted copies of the web pages you bookmark.★ 28.9k · MIT
11. 11
    ExcalidrawOpen sourceHand-drawn style sketches and diagrams to think visually alongside your notes.★ 135k · MIT
12. 12
    MarkTextOpen sourceA clean, distraction-free Markdown editor with live preview.★ 63.5k · MIT
13. 13
    PPersonal knowledge synthesisPromptA prompt for turning scattered notes into connected insights.Free prompt
14. 14
    MMarkdown Editor & PreviewBrowser toolWrite Markdown with a live preview in the browser and export a .md file.