About Poznote

Poznote started from a simple personal need that evolved into a comprehensive note-taking and documentation platform. It's the story of frustration with existing tools and the desire to build something simpler, more open, and more personal.

The Beginning

In 2020, I relied heavily on Evernote to store all my technical notes and documentation. It was a tool I loved for its simplicity and reliability. Then Evernote decided to migrate to Electron, and everything changed.

The new interface was bloated with features everywhere I didn't need and would never use. But worse than that, Evernote had lost the simplicity I cherished. More importantly, I realized my data was locked in Evernote's proprietary cloud. I couldn't use my own notes without their application. That didn't sit right with me.

So I decided to build my own tool. Poznote.

The Evolution

2020-2023: Manual Engineering I initially built Poznote in PHP with MySQL. During these years, I manually coded every aspect of the application, relying on deep research through Stack Overflow, technical blogs, and documentation. I spent countless nights making sure every line of code was performant and reliable.
2024: Docker When Docker emerged, I realized it was the future. I took the opportunity to modernize Poznote's architecture, moving from an Apache on Debian setup to a much lighter Nginx on Alpine Linux configuration. I also switched from MySQL to SQLite to simplify the stack further while maintaining performance and portability.
2025-2026: AI-Powered Collaboration With the rise of AI, I saw an opportunity to make Poznote even more powerful without compromising its core simplicity. Today, AI helps me review and refactor the codebase regularly. This collaboration has allowed me to implement advanced features that would have taken me too much time to build otherwise, while I maintain full control over the architecture.

Advanced Features Without Bloat

Poznote keeps simplicity as the default, but offers advanced features for those who need them: OIDC authentication, Git sync, MCP server integration, multi-user support, and public sharing. They're there when you need them, but never get in the way.

Poznote Today

Today, I use Poznote to manage over 2,000 technical notes. My wife and daughter each maintain their own workspaces on the same instance. Everything works seamlessly.

One of my favorite features is data portability. I can download all my notes as a ZIP file containing HTML and Markdown versions that open directly in any browser. My data is truly mine, and I can use it independently of Poznote.

Few months ago, I decided it was time to share this tool with the world. The application had matured, proven stable, and offered something genuinely different in the note-taking landscape.

This is the story of Poznote, and I hope it proves useful to you. Whether you're working solo, managing notes as a family, or part of a small team looking for a self-hosted documentation platform, Poznote might be a great fit.

Tim