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Day 58: new resources are added every day. See what's new
Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

jrnl

A simple command-line journal for quick notes and daily logs.

Visit jrnlFree4.5

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

Free: 1,100+ ways people make money onlineFree: 399+ ways to make money online

What is jrnl?

jrnl is a free, open-source journal that runs in your terminal. Type a quick entry without opening another app, tag thoughts with @, search past entries by date or tag, and keep everything in plain text files that you can encrypt with a password.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros

  • Log a thought in a few seconds
  • Plain text files with optional encryption
  • Free and open source

Cons

  • Works only in the terminal
  • No built-in sync between computers

Who should use jrnl

People who live in the terminal and want a fast work log or private journal.

Who may not need it

Anyone who prefers a visual notes app.

jrnl alternatives

Similar resources to jrnl, picked from the directory.

All Note-Taking resources

SiYuan

Focus: second brain, block editor and backlinks. Shares open source and github with jrnl. Adds iOS and Android. Rated 4.7 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit

Atuin

Focus: shell history, terminal and sync. Shares command line and open source with jrnl. Rated 4.7 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

Memos

Focus: quick notes, markdown and self-hosted. Shares open source and github with jrnl. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.7 (jrnl: 4.5).

Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.7Visit

zoxide

Focus: terminal, navigation and shell. Shares command line and open source with jrnl. Rated 4.7 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

Taskwarrior

Focus: to-do list, task manager and gtd. Shares command line and open source with jrnl. Rated 4.6 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit

Free alternatives to jrnl

Free resources that cover similar ground.

Heynote

Focus: scratchpad, developer tools and calculator. Shares plain text with jrnl. Adds Offline. Rated 4.6 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Logseq

Focus: PKM, Note-Taking and Graph Database. Shares Open Source with jrnl. Adds iOS, Android and Web. Rated 4.6 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Trilium Notes

Focus: notes, knowledge base and self-hosted. Shares open source with jrnl. Adds Web and Offline. Rated 4.6 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

claude-obsidian

Focus: obsidian, claude code and second brain. Shares open source with jrnl. An AI tool, not a desktop app. Rated 4.8 (jrnl: 4.5).

AI ToolFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

Handy

Focus: speech to text, dictation and whisper. Shares open source and github with jrnl. Rated 4.7 (jrnl: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit
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