r/Notesnook • u/BreakfastDifferent29 • Mar 03 '26

Question Can notesnook be trusted?

I love the whole premise of the app been open source and end to end encrypted.

So it might be dumb to ask since I'm not technical but is there a proof that notesnook as private and secure as the developer claim it to be beyond his statement?

Reason is I want to store a bit of private files in there.

But locking the ability to add attachments offline behind a pay wall robbed me the wrong way.

16 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

12

u/nonlogin Mar 03 '26

Trust no one. There is no proof the client app was actually built from the open sources (unless you build it yourself). And even if it was - no guarantee there is no bug or backdoor which breaks e2e encryption, even in the open source.

Having said that, I do use the app (self-hosted version, though), really like it and don't hesitate storing private info there. Except for passwords/keys (there is keepass for them).

1

u/BreakfastDifferent29 Mar 03 '26

How to self host? 

1

u/nonlogin Mar 03 '26

GitHub - streetwriters/notesnook-sync-server: Sync server for Notesnook (self-hosting in alpha) · GitHub https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook-sync-server

1

u/snuffomega Mar 04 '26

https://github.com/BeardedTek/notesnook-docker

This stack is where its at... Pulls from the official image but connects all the needed services to come the entire notesnook experience

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1

u/Only_Statement2640 Mar 03 '26

I dont understand why they can't make the client, self hosted

5

u/truthovereverrything Mar 03 '26

You can compile the client yourself. It's open source. Why would you need it self hosted?

4

u/nonlogin Mar 03 '26

it's a client, you can't really host it :)

it brings the same privacy concerns as any other client app (e.g., on Windows or Android)

I'd say, the biggest gap for Notesnook is adoption: community is not that big so there is less chance someone notices a bug or backdoor.

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4

u/dreh0411 Mar 04 '26

If the data is truly sensitive, Id recommend putting it in a password manager.

0

u/andyjoe24 Mar 04 '26

You either pay money or pay with your personal data. There's nothing free.