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ForkLeaf and the apps you already know
Every app here can hold your notes. The difference is where they end up: in ForkLeaf, a Markdown file in a GitHub repository with your name on it.
- ForkLeaf vs ObsidianYou want sync between devices without paying for it or wiring up a folder-sync tool — a private GitHub repository does it.
- ForkLeaf vs NotionYou want your notes as files you can read in any editor, not blocks you have to export and lose things from.
- ForkLeaf vs EvernoteYou want notes in a format every text editor reads, not one only Evernote writes.
- ForkLeaf vs OneNoteYou type, and want structure — headings, lists, tables, code — that survives outside the app.
And by name
Nine questions to ask before you put a decade of thinking somewhere. Notion, OneNote, Obsidian and Evernote answer them too — these are their answers, not ours about them.
| Question | ForkLeaf | Notion | OneNote | Obsidian | Evernote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where a note ends upThe thing everything else follows from. | A .md file in a GitHub repository you own | A row in Notion's database, on Notion's servers | A .one notebook in OneDrive | A .md file in a folder on that device | A note in Evernote's cloud |
| Format | Markdown — readable in any editor, for ever | Blocks. Markdown export exists and loses things | A proprietary binary format | Markdown | ENEX, an XML format only Evernote writes |
| History | Every save is a git commit — diffs, blame, revert | Page history, on paid plans, for a limited window | Recent versions, per page | Nothing built in; a plugin or git of your own | Note history on paid plans |
| Sync | git push, to a repository you already pay nothing for | Theirs, included, and required | OneDrive, included | A paid add-on, or a folder-sync tool you wire up | Theirs, limited on the free tier |
| Offline | Fully — edits queue locally and push when you reconnect | Partial, and not something to rely on | Yes | Yes — it is a local app | Partial, on paid plans |
| Diagrams | A Mermaid studio; the diagram renders on GitHub as well | Mermaid in code blocks | Freehand drawing and shapes | Mermaid, plus plugins | Sketches |
| Collaboration | Pull requests and review — proposed, discussed, then merged | Live multiplayer editing — genuinely excellent | Shared notebooks | A paid add-on, or none | Shared notes |
| If the company disappears | Nothing happens. The notes were never here | You have whatever you exported before it happened | Files in OneDrive, in a format only OneNote reads | You still have your folder — same answer, and a good one | You have an ENEX file to find a converter for |
| Price | Free, open source, and no account to close | Free tier, then per person per month | Free with a Microsoft account | Free for personal use; sync and publish cost extra | Free tier with limits, then paid |
The file is the product
Everywhere else the file is an export — a lossy copy you make when you are already leaving. Here it is the original, written the moment you stop typing, readable by every tool that has ever opened a text file.
History you did not have to buy
Not a version panel with a retention window. Real commits: what changed, when, why, and the ability to bring back a paragraph you deleted in March. That is a feature nobody else can sell you, because it is git.
Nothing to migrate, ever again
The last migration you do is the one into a repository. Change your mind about ForkLeaf and your notes do not move — you just open the same folder in something else. That is what makes trying this cheap.
Your notes go where your work already lives
Beside the code, in the review flow your team already runs, published to GitHub Pages when you want them read. No integration, no connector, no export step: the same repository, the same pull request, the same history.
Every app in that table can hold your notes today. One of them still can in ten years without your permission, your payment or your password — because it is not an app holding them at all. It is a folder of Markdown in a repository with your name on it, and ForkLeaf is the window you happen to be reading it through.
One at a time, with how to move across: ForkLeaf vs Obsidian · ForkLeaf vs Notion · ForkLeaf vs Evernote · ForkLeaf vs OneNote