CherryTree
Shares rank 30 of 33 note-taking apps by recommenders
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.
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.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Looks nicer than its website suggests
“much nicer than the web site portrays”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: Where do you save links, notes and random useful stuff?” “I like the look and feel.”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “CherryTree Note Taker App”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Shaky older Python/GTK version
“it was a shaky Python/GTK app; meanwhile it was re-written in C++, which likely improved stability”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “CherryTree Note Taker App” Janky; resizing permanently resizes images
“too janky for example resizing an image permanently resizes the image”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “Zotero 8” Notebook format unusable on mobile
“there's not really a way to use your notebook on mobile due to it using a special database format that nobody cares about”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “Cheese Paper: a text editor specifically designed for writing”
Other note-taking apps people recommend
The four most recommended other note-taking apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 33 note-taking apps, rankedWhat people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it was a shaky Python/GTK app; meanwhile it was re-written in C++, which likely improved stability”
“I like the look and feel.”
“there's not really a way to use your notebook on mobile due to it using a special database format that nobody cares about”
“Once you get used to CherryTree you might love it.”
“much nicer than the web site portrays”
“too janky for example resizing an image permanently resizes the image”
“Getting readable diffs (via using XML as an output format) is meaningful.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.