The idea of building a “second brain” fascinated me when I discovered Obsidian a few years ago. I spent years constructing my knowledge base, creating thousands of interconnected notes across tech, 3D printing, business, and side projects. The promise of transforming scattered thoughts into an intelligent system that enhances thinking and creativity was what really compelled me.
Unfortunately, I spent more time organizing, formatting, and maintaining the system than using it. The constant upkeep felt like a part-time job. Links broke, formatting needed fixing, and complex structures demanded attention. While seeing connections in the graph view looked cool, I realized it didn’t help with anything practical. As someone who gains more value from traditional tools like calendars and task apps, the approach felt overkill. This realization led me to explore alternatives, which led me to discover Joplin—and I haven’t looked back since.
Why Joplin?
Subscriptions, sync, and speed made the choice clear
While there are several offline-first note apps I could choose from, I ultimately settled with Joplin. As a free Obsidian user, I faced significant limitations. My notes stayed trapped on individual devices since sync required a subscription I couldn’t justify. With multiple service fees already stretching my subscription budget, I needed a note-taking solution that simply worked without ongoing costs.
Performance became another concern as my vault grew to thousands of notes spanning AI, computers, hydroponics, 3D printing, writing projects, and everything in between. Searches turned sluggish, and the graph view became practically unusable on my older devices.
These practical challenges pointed toward a different approach. Joplin offered genuine open-source freedom with no subscription requirements, no vault limitations, and reliable sync using cloud storage I already had. My decision became final when I realized I was spending more time fighting my tools than focusing on actual work.
How I Use Joplin Now
From random idea to full project workflow
Let me walk you through exactly how Joplin streamlines my workflow. I was just scrolling through r/IndoorGarden when I saw a post about cats constantly digging in potted plants. Making a 3D printed pot protector strikes me as a genuinely good product idea. Let me clip this post using the Joplin extension to start the project.
To clip the idea, I simply use the Joplin Web Clipper extension. I personally like to highlight all the useful information, including text and images, then use Clip selection. This allows me to only clip the displayed content, so I don’t have to deal with all the hidden messy CSS and HTML that I’d have to clean up when using full page clipping. After clipping, simply click on Open newly created note option on the extension to open Joplin.
Going to the Joplin app, the clip looks clean with photos, comments, and useful links preserved, similar to how they appeared on the page. No formatting headaches or broken layouts to fix.
Now I need to organize this properly. When using Joplin, I like to create dedicated notebooks for each project to keep everything contained and easy to find. Think of notebooks as filing cabinets where each drawer has a specific purpose. For this project, I created a hierarchical structure with a main “Cat Guard” notebook under “3D Printing,” then add sub-notebooks like “CGPP R&D” for research and development work, and another for checklists and task management.
It’s time to make some notes. When making notes, Joplin provides me with two sections. The left pane shows my markdown editor where I’m typing, while the right pane displays the live preview of exactly how it will look when rendered. This split view makes formatting effortless because I can see results instantly without switching between edit and preview modes.
At this point, I’ve made all the necessary notes I think I need. Now I want to make another sub-notebook called “Cat Guard Plant Protector” within the “Cat Guard” notebook. This sub-notebook will be used to contain all my checklist for the project.
For checklists, Joplin provides a To-do button. I like this feature because it aggregates these across all notebooks into unified dashboards, making it easy to view on my phone later. To create an item on the list, I simply click on New to do, add a title, then some description if needed.
After setting up my entire project structure and task list, I grab my phone and hit Synchronize on the Joplin app. Everything I just created appears on my mobile device within seconds. The nested notebook structure, all my notes with formatting intact, and my task lists are immediately accessible. I can continue research, check off completed items, or add new ideas wherever I am.
This workflow eliminates the maintenance overhead that plagued my previous setup. Overall, the process was pretty easy and all done within Joplin without the need for complex configurations or multiple tools.
What took some getting used to
It wasn’t always flawless
Joplin’s database approach initially felt different from individual markdown files, raising concerns about data portability. However, comprehensive export options supporting markdown, PDF, HTML, and JEX format addressed these worries while actually improving sync reliability and search performance.
Plugin selection is noticeably smaller than other platforms. While this eliminates choice paralysis, I did miss some specific mobile plugins I’d grown accustomed to with Obsidian. The core features covered most of my needs, but there were a few workflows I had to adapt to rather than simply installing a plugin to match my preferences.
Finally, the interface required genuine adjustment time. Coming from unified workspaces, Joplin’s separate editor and preview panes felt clunky at first. I kept looking for a combined view that didn’t exist. It took about a week of daily use before the layout started feeling natural.
I’m sticking with Joplin
Switching from Obsidian to Joplin taught me that the most popular option isn’t always the best fit for my specific needs. While Obsidian excels at knowledge management and offers an impressive plugin ecosystem, Joplin delivers the reliability, flexibility, and genuine open-source freedom that matter more in my daily workflow. The combination of robust sync options, comprehensive import tools, and real privacy protection makes Joplin a compelling alternative that solved the actual problems I faced. For anyone feeling constrained by Obsidian’s limitations or subscription requirements, Joplin offers a refreshing approach that puts user control and data ownership first.
