# CherryTree

5 Hacker News commenters recommended CherryTree and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free note-taking app people like for its look, feel and readable diffs. Common caveat: it feels janky and notebooks do not work on mobile.

## Why people recommend it

- Looks nicer than its website suggests (2 comments): "much nicer than the web site portrays" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47128801)) "I like the look and feel." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49104084))

## What people warn about

- Shaky older Python/GTK version (1 comments): "it was a shaky Python/GTK app; meanwhile it was re-written in C++, which likely improved stability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49109950))
- Janky; resizing permanently resizes images (1 comments): "too janky for example resizing an image permanently resizes the image" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46736881))
- Notebook format unusable on mobile (1 comments): "there's not really a way to use your notebook on mobile due to it using a special database format that nobody cares about" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342355))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Obsidian](https://hackerapproved.com/p/obsidian.md): 447 recommend
- [Org mode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/org-mode.md): 175 recommend
- [Notion](https://hackerapproved.com/p/notion.md): 91 recommend
- [Logseq](https://hackerapproved.com/p/logseq.md): 52 recommend
- [Apple Notes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-notes.md): 39 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "CherryTree", https://hackerapproved.com/p/cherrytree/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).