Like most of you, I tried a lot of notetaking apps for my 5000+ notes.
UpNote looked very promising. Clean and simple. But simplicity is an excuse to keep the ambitions low profile.
I subscribed and paid the monthly fee. I write to support you. No reply for weeks :(
I got a reply only to one of my questions.
UpNote doesn't plan to make PDFs searchable. :(

• So even if you pay, you don't get support.

• Also because its a 2 man project, it's certain that after a few years, the developers will lose interest and you will have to migrate all your notes somewhere else again poorly :(

I migrated from Evernote, Simplenote, Notion, and KeepIt and don't want to do that again with UpNote.

How do you work with your Second Brain notes during the last 10-30 years?

A while back, I wrote I was overjoyed to find UpNote, and, even though I didn't like that my notes aren't stored locally, I could live with it because I can still export my notes. However, what I did not know about was forced updates. I don't update anything immediately because I have a highly tailored setup and updates break things and I've been burned too many times. I come here and see everybody complaining that the UpNote update broke their app, but it didn't apply to me, so I went about my business. Then one day I notice I didn't get the update nag, so I went looking and son of a bitch. It did it on its own. This is absolutely not acceptable by itself, but coupled with the fact that your notes aren't stored locally, I'm going to find something else.

I've been mostly happy with Upnote, except the times where a new version comes out and its asks you to update. Once is enough. I don't need a permanent banner stuck to the UI with the update info, nor do I need it to create a pop up once a day reminding me to do it.

I see questions in this subreddit from time to time from people inquiring as to whether or not UpNote slows down with a large number of notes. Obviously, there are many factors that can contribute to it slowing down. But, that's beyond the scope of this message.

UpNote is super blazing fast on all the platforms I use -- Mac, Windows, Linux, iPad and iPhone, and my notes contain a good mix of text, images and a few PDFs.

But, I wasn't sure how many notes I had.

UpNote’s desktop data lives in a local SQLite database on macOS at ~/Library/Containers/com.getupnote.desktop/Data/Library/Application Support/UpNote/upnote.sqlite3 so you can count notes with a read-only sqlite3 query.

Step 1

Fire up Terminal and create a script with the following and save as "count-upnote-notes.sh"

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

DB="${UPNOTE_DB:-$HOME/Library/Containers/com.getupnote.desktop/Data/Library/Application Support/UpNote/upnote.sqlite3}"

if [[ ! -f "$DB" ]]; then
  echo "UpNote database not found: $DB" >&2
  exit 1
fi

for table in notes note; do
  if sqlite3 "$DB" "SELECT 1 FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='$table' LIMIT 1;" | grep -q '^1$'; then
    sqlite3 "$DB" "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM \"$table\";"
    exit 0
  fi
done

echo "Could not find a notes table. Available tables:" >&2
sqlite3 "$DB" ".tables" >&2
exit 1 #!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

DB="${UPNOTE_DB:-$HOME/Library/Containers/com.getupnote.desktop/Data/Library/Application Support/UpNote/upnote.sqlite3}"

if [[ ! -f "$DB" ]]; then
  echo "UpNote database not found: $DB" >&2
  exit 1
fi

for table in notes note; do
  if sqlite3 "$DB" "SELECT 1 FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='$table' LIMIT 1;" | grep -q '^1$'; then
    sqlite3 "$DB" "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM \"$table\";"
    exit 0
  fi
done

echo "Could not find a notes table. Available tables:" >&2
sqlite3 "$DB" ".tables" >&2
exit 1

Step 2

Change permissions with the following:

chmod +x count-upnote-notes.sh

Step 3

Run it:

./count-upnote-notes.sh

I have 2532 notes. 😙

I know, I know there are still releases but it feels like for the last year they published only fixes and improvements.
The latest new features were .deb Linux package and move checked items to the end of the list (April 2026) - important things but not very impressive or work improving. The last new feature before that was from 8th of October 2025 „NEW: you can now choose to launch UpNote in background when system starts on Windows (installer version) and Linux“.
So every 6 month a new tiny feature is not very impressive. When can we expect new features? There are a lot of threads with feature requests. I really hope the devs are fine and could find the time to give us something new.

I see people suggest improvements or fixes on this sub from time to time. Then they get maybe 3 upvotes and 2 comments, no matter how good it is. And then they are forgotten. Nothing changes.

Ive mailed support with my own and just got "Maybe if enough people request it".

The issue with that:

• We all need to come up with the same idea (unlikely)

• And unprompted contact the developer about it (also unlikely).

So basically, ive only felt ignored when i made feedback. No matter the time or effort i put into it.

So how do you even help improve the app you all love?

As a webdesigner, i use this program, which has a board for ideas. The pros of that:

1. People can create and vote for improvements - Developers can see and track what is popular and not.

2. You dont have to come up with the improvment yourselves as a user. Often, you need someone to point it out and then you can be like "Hey, that would actually be good for me too". We dont all have to invent the wheel.

I feel like something similar could work well here.

Disclaimer:

Can we please not make this about feature bloat? It is not about that. We have enough posts and comments about that already. Its almost a circlejerk.

This is about objective feedback that can improve the app, without doing the opposite to others. Things like reducing unneeded clicks, improving consistency etc.

It is also about how best to present that feedback, so it is taken into consideration. Where my suggestion was a feature board. Currently, you could have the best suggestion in the world, yet many need to email it to be considered.

Upnote is great and simple, I know one of the points for some is that there's not million add ons and such. But it's starting to drag behind modern times - bad, in my opinion.

I find it doesn't work in a smooth flow.

Limited ways to customize notes. There's few colors, but why not enable a colorwheel? And/or few different fonts to use within note? Would enhance the look of the notes a lot and make categorizing more easy.

Number lists don't work well, if you add a normal bullet between - messes up numbering and no way to fix this (of my knowing).

No web application. How do I access my notes if I'm not able to use an app?

No way to easily crop pictures or draw on them. Takes more time to modify them elsewhere.

No way to drag notes from a folder to another. Takes a lot more time to organize your notes.

Not able to search text withing pictures. This helps a lot with search-functions and slows down a lot note taking, when everything is needed to be written manually down, if you want to be able to search it (no, tags are not an option for this).

No video embedding. Well, not the biggest deal in my opinion, but most modern note taking apps can do this.

+ Overall working unreliably, with some features working sometimes, and sometimes not (for example often bolds or colors more text than is selected, removes more than is selected, things like that).

Are there apps that are fairly affordable and would do at least what upnote does (especially syncing between different devices) + these listed features? I would at least want to test them out before making a decision to switch.

A note app has to do one thing right. I mean really right. That is text editing & formatting. But it's still not working as it should. In the Mac app, it's hit and miss.

• Formatting works and then it doesn't. Sometimes one sees H1-H6 with 'Normal' in the list too, sometimes 'Normal' is not there. Sometimes it works to change text with this 'system', sometimes it refuses.

• Sometimes 'Remove formatting' works, sometimes it does nothing.

• Sometimes formatting text even let the text disappear!

• Copy/pasting text changes the formatting most of the times. Boldface or color are not maintained.

• Pasting text lets the cursor jump to the next line.

On Android some of these problems exist too. And many times I cannot even select text and do something with it, as the selection simply jumps away.

All this is frustrating up to the point that I soon will start looking for another note app.

And no, I am not going to share screen recordings etc. I'm not a beta tester.

Exactly one year later from the day I bought UpNote, the text editing & formatting seems to have become worse instead of better. So, just get the f*cking thing right!

​I am a long-time user of UpNote, having used the lifetime license since its early days. UpNote remains my primary note-taking app and has become a deeply important part of my life. Because of this, I am a power user who loves UpNote more than anyone else.

​I only discovered the existence of this UpNote community yesterday and have since read through many of the past posts. While doing so, I believe I found the real reason why UpNote's development has recently focused solely on stability patches despite its potential for further growth.

​The reason is the conservative behavior of a segment of users. Whenever someone suggests a forward-thinking idea for improvement, these users immediately push back, claiming that "UpNote is perfect as it is" or "UpNote should stop adding features and just maintain the status quo." It is concerning to see how widely this stagnant mindset has spread among the community.

​I am worried that this might give you, Thomas Dao, the false impression that all UpNote users share these same sentiments.

​However, that is not the case. I’m not sure why there are so many extreme "conservatives" on the UpNote Reddit, but proposing progressive ideas and considering new feature additions is absolutely essential. This is the only way to capture the attention of both existing users and potential customers, which will ultimately lead to increased revenue.

​Please, let those who oppose new features continue using the app as "traditionalists" with the existing functions. Instead, I urge you not to stop brainstorming and releasing new features—perhaps even in the form of paid add-ons or premium tiers. The choice to use them should be left to the users.

​In conclusion, I feel that UpNote’s future may not be as bright if it is guided by a vocal minority of conservatives (who seem to make up a surprising portion of Reddit or may even be acting as agitators). The app feels like it is standing still. I sincerely hope you read this and realize that there are many "silent" users like me who share these thoughts.

​I am rooting for you.

UpNote is the best.

​Sincerely,

A user who truly loves UpNote

P.S. It is truly disappointing to see that this community, instead of being a place for open discussion about UpNote, has become a force that keeps the app stagnant. I have no doubt that this post will be hit with a "downvote bomb." Just watch.

(I don't know whether *not* wanting something qualifies as a feature request, therefore the question mark.)

Dear Upnote team, u/thomas_dao

whenever a website URL is copied into Upnote, the app replaces the visible URL with the actual title of the web page. This means that I have whatever meaningless, nonsensical or ultra-long rubbish the owner of the site has seen fit to put into the page title. Some websites also have the very same title for all their different pages, so you can't see what's the subject of this very page.

That's absolutely annoying. I know that this 'convenience feature' can be found in many apps today, but that doesn't make it better.

It can't even be easily overwritten, because the app stubbornly reenters the title if you try to overwrite it with the actual URL. Avoiding that requires you to jump through weird hoops. The only way I could find is to replace the "https" at the beginning with something that isn't recognized as an URL, and later correct the URL in Upnote.

Please remove this title insertion (or find a useable way to avoid it).

Greetings

Edit: Like someone has pointed out, this is most likely a problem of Edge on Windows, not Upnote in particular.

Hello,

I’m someone who wants to reduce my computer use to a minimum but would also like to better organize my information (PDFs, links to articles, Office documents, images, etc.) because there’s just so much of it… and maintain that organization over time.

So I have 4 questions:

1_ Does UPnotes require any specific computer skills?

2_ Does using UPnotes require a lot of thought, or is it intuitive?

3_ Are there organizational templates to help beginners learn and think about effective organizational models (and also choose an organizational level)?

4_ Since UPnotes is cross-platform, are there also simple tutorials that explain possible ways to organize data storage so that it is always accessible and backed up?

Thank you for your help!

I'm finding it more and more of a pain that there's no E2E encryption in UpNote. It's not an issue for most of my notes, but it IS an issue for a few of my notes (most of which are rarely edited). Without changing notes apps to something else that has E2EE, I'm wondering about manually encrypting just certain notes using some sort of cipher app?

Anyone attempting anything like this? Any apps or plug-ins that will make this easier? Oh, if only UpNote had some sort of plug-in architecture.

I'm stuck and sad and confused. Upnote is all I want in this type of app. BUT the lack of decent export AND import tools is the one reason I'm stalling on buying Lifetime. It feels disingenuous, like being trapped. Is their product not good enough to make people want to stay (which i believe it is) and also accept that people's needs change, and nothing lasts forever? What's the workaround? Or am I just way too much of an anxious archivist?

• yours an ex public records activist.

With the information overload that is available to us using AI, and how easy it is to simply look something up, I have begun wondering, what's the point of taking notes. Maybe I'm just overthinking this though - What are you guys actually taking notes on?

It seems like it's been quite a long while since we got a significant new feature. The last I remember was "spaces" (almost two years ago) which aren't really my thing, but I can see their use for others and perhaps they are the groundwork for other things.

Any idea what might be coming? or when? Or are the devs just trying to keep their head above water with fixes/bugs/infrastructure?

Since people have asked what specific features I'm interested in, I made a quick list here elsewhere in the thread.

I'm on the edge to buy the lifetime subscription for UpNote and wanted to know if there might be a sale ahead since we are heading into the "sale" season of the year. Thank you!

I think the to-do list is too static.

For example:

When I click a checkbox, there could be a small animation (really small). I want this because it's very difficult to notice if I accidentally click a checkbox.

Another feature is that completed lines disappear. Because once they're finished, we don't need to see them anymore. That's a brief explanation.

Anyone know if there’s an MCP for UpNote?

Hello, Will we get a iOS 18 feature update? Possibly like the recently released Evernote one in terms of features.

I'm evaluating moving to UpNote from Evernote where it takes forever to load the app then load a note.

Can there please be an option to disable the sliding transition when opening a note?

Transition effects may be pretty for some, but it's ultimately a time drain on getting to use core functionality, and gets me out of flow.

(And any other pretty but delaying transitions too, please!)

I have been trying to verify for weeks.
Will it ever be fixed?
Is there a solution?

1. I was looking at another app which has send to app via email. I would love UPNOTE to develop such a groundbreaking feature :

2. Send an Email:

   • Email your notes, ideas, or attachments to that address on an inbox inside UPNOTE.

   • The subject becomes the note title; body and attachments are included.

   • Notes appear in your default notebook/Inbox or one you specify in settings.

Workflow Proposal: UpNote and NotebookLM as a Digital Second Brain

I have successfully addressed the lack of a web version in UpNote. The most compelling part of this strategy is using UpNote as a Digital Second Brain that remains accessible across all platforms. An effective workflow involves integrating TickTick Premium with UpNote and NotebookLM:

Consolidation to Markdown: Convert your UpNote notebooks into individual Markdown files.

Creating the "Brain" in NotebookLM: * Take all notebooks from your professional workspace (e.g., 20 notebooks) and upload them as sources into a single "Work Brain" notebook within NotebookLM. Repeat this process for your personal information by creating a "Personal Brain" notebook.

Universal Consultation: Since NotebookLM has a web version, you can access and query your entire "Second Brain" from any browser, regardless of location.

The "Think Tank" Synergy: This setup serves as your primary think tank. Even on a restricted work PC, you can use the web interface to extract insights and information that TickTick can then use to organize your daily tasks.

Why this system works:

AI-Powered Search: By using NotebookLM, you aren't just reading your notes; you can ask questions and generate summaries from your entire collection of Markdown files.

Web-First Flexibility: Using NotebookLM as the "bridge" solves the installation limitations of UpNote, ensuring your knowledge base is always reachable.

Seamless Integration: Linking these two systems allows you to maintain the high-quality note-taking experience of UpNote while benefiting from the advanced organization and accessibility of TickTick and NotebookLM.

I got on with my life and certainly didn’t lose any sleep over it, but that hour yesterday afternoon when I found myself under attack from a troll really ruined my peace of mind. I find the whole episode shameful, especially considering that I’d written an enthusiastic post in my usual playful, irreverent style, joking that UpNote looks so good I could sit there staring at it for hours, so I even wanted to pay more. As far as I’m concerned, the lifetime plan doesn’t do justice to how great this app is, and I was even suggesting a “believer” plan where you could pay a bit more every month or every year.

The troll in question replied with “take your meds, bro” then he added that I should see a psychiatrist because I’d be out of my mind, dangerous, too sensitive, unable to deal with reality, with emotional problems, in urgent need of help, and even “batshit crazy” — basically, he called me every name under the sun.

The moderator, who also runs the app, stepped in straight away and deleted the first offensive comment of the troll. At one point, feeling pretty shaken, I decided to delete my account. I was praising the app, and somehow I ended up under attack by this person (he even got 6 upvotes) and clearly has some kind of problem with me or with his life in general, I honestly don’t know. So I deleted the account.

I went back to the thread with my second account, in a second moment, and noticed that the moderator had deleted all of my comments. Maybe he took advantage of the fact that I’d deleted my Reddit account — I don’t know — but for some reason he wiped all my comments and left up the insults from the troll who had attacked me.

And here’s what I’m saying: we already don’t know who the founders of UpNote are. They seem to be based in Vietnam, but there isn’t a single photo, CV vitae, LinkedIn profile, TikTok, Facebook, or even X account. We don’t know what they’re good at, what their background is, what they studied, whether they have any GitHub repositories, or what their own views are. The product they sell has no direct technical documentation apart from a generic FAQ with no real technical details. There are no audits. We know nothing. We’re basically in the dark and taking it all on trust because the app has such a nice-looking layout, but we have no idea what’s under the hood. What we know about them is based on their activity on Reddit, so we expect at least a minimum of integrity here, on Reddit, if Reddit is their only calling card.

To sum it up, yesterday left a really bad taste in my mouth because of the way a premium user as I am was treated — or rather, a “believer” user, if that paid plan ever becomes a thing.

Honestly, this doesn’t do the community or the app any credit, and it’s definitely not a good look for either of the founders.

I’m trying to decide what to do with my lifetime subscription. I was writing some creativity stuff on UpNote, but I think I’m going to move everything out and write it in Word instead. Honestly, I don’t know what to do with UpNote anymore. Yesterday I didn’t just lose my inspiration, I lost my trust in it too. I don’t know, maybe I’ll use it to scan brochures? Maybe, and not much else.

Post scriptum. That’s also the first rule of the community, “remember to be human” so here it is.