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Scratchpad vs Joplin

Scratchpad works the same on every device with nothing to set up, and shares, co-edits, marks up PDFs, and keeps version history. Joplin is free, open source, and encrypted end to end, with apps everywhere and sync through the service you choose.

Facts checked Sources All comparisons

Joplin is one of the best-loved open source notes apps. It's free, works offline, and encrypts end to end once you turn that on. But publishing, sharing a notebook, a note's history, text in pictures, the web clipper, and the AI chat all start in its desktop app. Scratchpad is one account, nothing to configure, and the same app on every device.

The short answer

Choose Scratchpad if

  • You want to open it and write, with no sync service, encryption password, or plugins to set up
  • You want to share a note by link, or write in it with someone at the same time, without them needing an account
  • You want search to read inside your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files as well as your PDFs and pictures
  • You want version history, publishing, and the assistant on your phone as well as your computer
  • You want reminders by email, voice memos turned into text, and a pen for your PDFs, all built in

Choose Joplin if

  • You want free, open source software, synced through your own Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, or S3
  • You want every note encrypted end to end
  • You want native apps on Windows, Android, and iPhone, a terminal app, and full offline use
  • You like adding plugins to make the app your own

At a glance

Scratchpad Joplin
Price a month US$12, or US$8 with your own AI key Free. Joplin Cloud Basic €2.99, Pro €5.99, Teams €7.99 per person
Price a year US$120, or US$80 with your own AI key Free. Joplin Cloud Basic €28.69, Pro €57.48, Teams €80.28 per person
Free plan With a 30-day money-back guarantee The whole app
Open source Under the GNU AGPL
Setup None Choose a sync service, and turn on encryption if you want it
Where notes live Scratchpad's servers, synced to your devices On each device, synced through Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, S3, or a folder
Storage 10 GB Joplin Cloud Basic 2 GB, Pro 30 GB or 100 GB, Teams 50 GB
Platforms Apps for Mac and Linux, plus any browser, installable on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Native on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, and iPad, plus a terminal app (on Windows through WSL) and a web app
Works offline Keeps going when the connection drops, and syncs after Fully
End-to-end encryption Locked notes are encrypted with their own password Every note, once you turn it on
Web clipper For Chrome and Firefox. Safari coming soon For Chrome and Firefox, while the desktop app is running
Share one note by link To read or edit, with a password or expiry Read only, by publishing it with Joplin Cloud
Writing together Live. Guests need no account Shared notebooks between Joplin Cloud users, on Pro and Teams
Publishing A note or a whole folder as a site A note or a notebook, from the desktop app, on every Joplin Cloud plan
Search text in pictures and PDFs On every device Printed text, read by the desktop app
Search inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Not in Joplin's documentation
PDF markup Pen, highlighter, shapes, sticky notes, and forms Not in Joplin's documentation
Reminders By email and notification Alarms on to-dos, shown as notifications
Version history Up to 200 versions per note, on every device A version every 10 minutes, kept 90 days by default, viewed in the desktop app
Built-in AI On every device In beta, in the desktop app, with Joplin Cloud AI or your own provider
API and AI connectors A web API and an MCP server, from any device A local API and MCP server, through the desktop app
Writing Rich text with Markdown shortcuts Markdown, or a rich text editor that saves Markdown
Organising Folders, #tags, links, and backlinks Notebooks, sub-notebooks, tags, links, and whiteboards
Plugins None On desktop and mobile

Where Scratchpad is better

Scratchpad on a computer: folders on the left, a list of notes, and a note called Lisbon in October with a checklist and a day-by-day plan in a table.

No desktop app needed

In Joplin, publishing a note, sharing a notebook, viewing a note's history, reading the text in pictures and PDFs, the web clipper, and the AI chat all need the desktop app. Scratchpad does all of it but the clipping in the same app on a Mac, a Linux PC, a phone, or any browser, and clips pages from Chrome or Firefox with no desktop app running.

There's nothing to set up

Open Scratchpad and you're in a note. There's no sync service to pick and connect, no master password to set on one device and then enter on the others, and no plugins to choose.

Share a note, and write in it together

Joplin shares whole notebooks with other Joplin Cloud users, on Pro and Teams, and publishes notes and notebooks as pages that can only be read. In Scratchpad you send a link that reads or edits one note, give it a password or an expiry date, share a whole folder, and watch the other person's changes arrive as they type. They don't need an account.

Search reads more of your files

Joplin's desktop app reads printed text in pictures and PDFs. Scratchpad reads those on its own servers, so it works from any device, and also reads inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files and everything you've had transcribed.

PDFs you can mark up

Joplin shows PDFs inside a note. Scratchpad's reader adds a pen, highlighter, underline, shapes, sticky notes, and form filling. It keeps your marks beside the original rather than rewriting it, and downloads a copy with them burned in.

History you can open anywhere

Joplin saves a version of a changed note every 10 minutes, keeps it 90 days by default, and shows the versions only in the desktop app, where restoring one makes a copy in a Restored Notes folder. Scratchpad keeps up to 200 versions of every note, compares two side by side, and puts back the one you want, from any device.

An assistant that asks first

Scratchpad's assistant is part of the plan, works on every device, reads the note you're in, and asks before it changes anything. Joplin's AI chat is in beta, runs only in the desktop app, and applies the edits you ask for straight to the note, for you to undo if you don't want them.

Reminders and voice memos, built in

Reminders written in plain words arrive by email and as a notification, and voice memos turn into text you can search, with 20 hours a month included. Joplin's reminders are alarms on to-dos, shown as notifications by the app.

Your notes, reachable from anywhere

Scratchpad's API and MCP server work over the web, so Claude, ChatGPT, a shortcut, or a script can reach your notes from any device. Joplin's MCP server runs inside its desktop app, on that computer.

And everything else Scratchpad does.

  • Reminders in a sentence

    Type /remind call the vet Friday at 9am, and get an email and a notification.

  • Voice memos, transcribed

    Record into a note and get the words back as text you can search. 20 hours a month.

  • Write on PDFs

    Pen, highlighter, shapes, sticky notes, and forms, and a copy to download with your marks on it.

  • Every version, kept

    Up to 200 versions of each note, compared side by side and brought back in a click.

  • Search inside your files

    The words in your PDFs, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, your pictures and scans, and your transcripts, as you type.

  • Tabs, panels, and callouts

    Split a long note into tabs, fold a section away, or set a tip apart in a callout.

  • Code, maths, and footnotes

    Highlighting for about 35 languages, LaTeX that renders as you type, and footnotes that number themselves.

  • Locked notes

    Encrypted with a password of their own, and opened with Face ID or Touch ID once you set that up.

  • Share links you control

    Read or edit, with a password or an expiry date, and nobody needs an account. On paid plans.

  • Publish in one click

    Turn a note into a clean web page, and take it down just as fast. On paid plans.

  • An assistant that asks first

    It reads the note you are in, and its edits arrive as a change you approve.

  • Works with Claude and ChatGPT

    Any app that speaks MCP can search, read, and add to your notes. On paid plans.

  • Two-step sign-in and passkeys

    An authenticator code or an emailed one, backup codes, and passkeys for Touch ID and Face ID.

  • Folders, tags, and backlinks

    Three levels of folders, each with its own colour and icon, #tags as you type, and backlinks.

  • Bring your notes in

    Markdown, Word, HTML, RTF, or a whole zip, with its folders.

  • Markdown in and out

    Export a note, a folder, or everything as Markdown, plain text, or JSON.

Where Joplin is better

Free and open source

The whole Joplin app costs nothing, and its code is open under the GNU AGPL. Joplin Cloud is optional, from €28.69 a year, and businesses can run Joplin Server on their own machines. Scratchpad is US$120 a year, or US$80 with your own AI key, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Your files, synced where you choose

Joplin keeps your notes on each device and syncs them through Joplin Cloud, or through Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, S3, or a folder on your own network. Scratchpad exports everything as Markdown whenever you like, but day to day your notes live on our servers.

Every note encrypted end to end

Turn on Joplin's encryption and your notes, notebooks, tags, and attachments are encrypted before they leave your device, so not even Joplin's developers can read them. Scratchpad encrypts the notes you lock, not the rest, which is what lets search, sharing, and the assistant work on them.

Native apps everywhere, fully offline

Joplin is a real app on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, and iPad, with a terminal app for Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows (through WSL), and it works fully offline. Scratchpad has apps for Mac and Linux and runs in any browser everywhere else, but it's built to be online most of the time.

Plugins

Joplin's plugin directory adds templates, Kanban boards, and much more, on desktop and mobile, and you can write your own. Scratchpad has no plugins.

Moving from Joplin to Scratchpad

Scratchpad can't read Joplin's own JEX files, so export to Markdown instead. In Joplin's desktop app, choose File → Export all → MD - Markdown + Front Matter, zip the folder it makes, and bring the zip in from Settings → Your data → Bring notes in. What to expect:

  • Notebooks become folders, up to three levels deep.
  • Headings, lists, checklists, tables, and code arrive formatted.
  • Pictures and attached files, which Joplin puts in a _resources folder, come back in the notes that use them.
  • Links between your notes stay links.
  • Tags come with you, read from the front matter.

See Bringing your old notes in.

Good questions.

Is Joplin free?

Yes. The app is free and open source on every platform, and it can sync through Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, S3, or a folder without paying Joplin anything. Joplin Cloud, its own sync service, starts at €2.99 a month or €28.69 a year and adds publishing, AI, and on Pro, notebook sharing. Scratchpad has no free plan. It's US$12 a month, or US$8 with your own AI key, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Can I share a Joplin note with someone?

Through Joplin Cloud, in two ways. You can publish a note as a web page anyone with the link can read, or share a whole notebook with other Joplin Cloud users, who can then edit it, on Pro and Teams. Both start in the desktop app. Scratchpad shares one note or a folder by link, to read or edit, and the other person doesn't need an account.

Is Joplin end-to-end encrypted?

Yes, once you turn it on. You set a master password on one device, and your notes are then synced encrypted, to every device that has the password. Scratchpad encrypts the notes you lock with a password of their own, and not the rest.

Does Joplin have AI?

Yes, in beta, in the desktop app. Its AI chat works with Joplin Cloud AI or a provider of your own, including a model running on your computer, and it can search by meaning and connect to apps like Claude Desktop through a local MCP server. Scratchpad's assistant is included in the plan, works on every device, and its MCP server works over the web.

Can I move my notes from Joplin to Scratchpad?

Yes, through Markdown. In Joplin's desktop app, choose File → Export all → MD - Markdown + Front Matter, zip the folder, and import it. Notebooks, formatting, pictures, attached files, links between notes, and tags come across. Joplin's JEX backup files can't be imported.

Sources

Checked on 27 October 2026, from Joplin's own pages:

And for Scratchpad, the documentation and pricing.

The best way to decide is with your own notes.

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US$12 a month, or US$8 with your own AI key. 30-day money-back guarantee.