Trilium Notes – More Than Just a Note-Taking App

Trilium Notes is a free, open-source application for hierarchical note-taking. It is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and as a web service.

Key Features of Trilium Notes

Trilium Notes is not just an ordinary notebook, it is a professional tool for managing information. This note-taking application structures notes hierarchically to infinite depth. Each note can contain an arbitrary number of sub-notes. As a result, the user interface resembles that of developer tools: it includes a workspace, a navigation panel, and a contextual information bar.

Trilium Notes includes a WYSIWYG editor and a calendar-based content view. The text editor supports Markdown, Rich Text, and HTML formats. You can insert mathematical formulas, diagrams, and tables. Notes can also contain scripts and JavaScript. Combining these features allows for the creation of custom extensions and automation of various operations.

Notes can be cloned so that the same structures appear in multiple places within the hierarchy. You can also create links between notes. Trilium Notes has a powerful search engine with support for regular expressions. Notes can be filtered by type, tags, date, content, and more.

To enhance privacy and data security, Trilium Notes uses passwords and end-to-end encryption. All data is stored locally. Synchronization is configured on your own server. Backups are generated automatically. You can add tags and attributes to notes for more efficient future searches.

Under the hood, Trilium Notes uses SQLite as a database for storing content. The frontend is built with JavaScript and HTML5, while the backend uses Node.js. The desktop app is powered by the Electron platform. You can also run a Trilium server on your own computer and access your notes via a web browser. Synchronization between devices is based on the WebDAV protocol.

Application settings are highly detailed and divided into 15 sections for easier navigation. The app can be personalized through themes, custom CSS, and a plugin system. A large number of templates for different purposes are available to speed up the creation of standardized content.

Who Is Trilium Notes For, and What Is It Used For?

This is a completely free and open-source application. Any user with programming knowledge can verify its security, customize it as needed, or integrate it into larger projects. Trilium Notes supports Wiki-style navigation thanks to the links created between notes.

Most note-taking apps use a “flat” organization structure enhanced by tags. In contrast, Trilium Notes employs a hierarchical structure, making it ideal for building complex knowledge maps. Flat notebooks are more flexible, but hierarchical ones like Trilium Notes guide the user from the start toward better data organization.

Competitors to Trilium Notes include Obsidian, Joplin, Logseq, and similar tools. There is also a related application with additional features called Trilium.cc, which is not free. Unlike commercial solutions such as Evernote or Notion, Trilium Notes offers full local control with self-hosting capabilities. Users are not dependent on cloud services. All data is stored either locally or on a user-managed server.

There is no standalone mobile app, but the web service can be used on mobile devices. Compared to more popular note-taking tools, Trilium Notes has a smaller community behind it. For more advanced operations, knowledge of JavaScript is required. The app has a learning curve, but anyone who invests time into it will soon see the benefits.

Trilium Notes is ideal for building a personal knowledge base. It can be used for journaling, task management with deadlines, daily, weekly, and monthly reports. Trilium Notes is designed for developers, researchers, technically skilled users, and those who want full control over their information. It is suitable for managing knowledge bases, academic work, and software documentation. Besides individual use, its server-based capabilities may also interest smaller organizations.

Platform:
Windows, Linux, macOS, and web service

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