Hi Proton Team,

I'm looking at Proton as a potential European alternative to Google and Apple ecosystems. The privacy-first approach is exactly what the market needs and is great, but there's one critical gap preventing full adoption: a dedicated quick-capture Notes app.

Why Standard Notes isn't enough: I tried Standard Notes as a workaround, but it lacks the intuitive, fast-capture experience needed for daily note-taking. It feels clunky for quick lists, ideas, or temporary note...not the seamless workflow users expect.

The Problem:

Google Keep and Apple Notes serve as essential "quick capture" tools for millions
Proton Docs is too heavy for instant notes, checklists, or temporary ideas
Standard Notes (the closest alternative) lacks the snappy, everyday UX needed for daily note-taking
This forces users to keep using Google/Apple Notes alongside Proton services, breaking the privacy continuity (and for that they need a Google Mail still..)
What Would Close the Gap:

Fast, one-tap note creation (mobile and desktop)
Rich media support: checklists, images, voice memos (all encrypted)
Organization: color coding, tags, pinning
Smart import: Easy migration from Google Keep/Apple Notes (fully rich, easy import)
Optional collaboration for teams/families
Why This Matters: Without a Notes app, Proton can't truly compete as a complete ecosystem replacement. Users who want to leave Google/Apple entirely need this feature to go all-in on privacy.

This is a high-impact feature that would strengthen Proton's position in the privacy market and attract users seeking a full ecosystem alternative.

Thanks for considering this.

Standard Notes has a wide gulf between their free 'Standard' tier and their main 'Productivity' tier. I don't need most of the premium features and don't want to pay for them. It is too expensive and the free tier is too rubbish.

What I really need is rich-text note taking integrated into Proton (UI like ProtonMail and ProtonPass, which I use extensively). It must use cloud storage and E2E encryption of course. I have ProtonDuo and I would expect to be able to share notes. I need competent folder organisation and free tagging (similar to email storage in ProtonMail) and I need good search. That's about it.

Standard Notes has unnecessary features like spreadsheets, 2FA etc that overlap with ProtonSheets, ProtonPass and are therefore a non-requirement.

I've used standard notes for years and was thrilled to see they had been incorporated by Proton. I assumed that eventually they would become "protonized" and show up with a consistent UI, but haven't seen an inkling of that. From the outside it seems like a no-brainer and would be a great add-on for proton drive because it would integrate note keeping with file keeping. and permit than within a single secure app.

I use the Documents within Drive for this. What's really missing is a Tasks app.

Markdown notes compatible with Obsidian would be nice

Proton Pass has this feature, but it really needs to be its own app. Standard Notes can work too, and it's really good, but it's more of an alternative to OneNote than to Google Keep.

I know Proton is collaborating with Standard Notes, but I would like to have a notes app that is part of the Proton suite. As I have read on the most recent Standard Notes posting about Proton on X, it seems as though Standard Notes is going to remain independent and not become part of Proton's offerings. Therefore, I'm hoping Proton will do something on their own and offer it to us subscribers. What is the likelihood of this becoming a Proton suite feature?

I know Proton is collaborating with Standard Notes, but I would like to have a notes app that is part of the Proton suite. As I have read on the most recent Standard Notes posting about Proton on X, it seems as though Standard Notes is going to remain independent and not become part of Proton's offerings. Therefore, I'm hoping Proton will do something on their own and offer it to us subscribers. Can we get this done @ProtonSupport?

Please add note app.

Include markdown format.

This make more sense, I personal don't start migrating notes and do not use standard notes because is not integrated with the proton ecosystem

Bumping.

Was excited to learn the very excellent Standard Notes was "joining" the Proton ecosystem, but bummed out to see what that really meant to me as the consumer.

I hope Proton eventually releases a note-taking app similar to Standard Notes or NotesNook.

Or maybe Standard Notes can offer a discounted rate to Proton consumers? 🙂

Daily note-taking is hard when Proton does not have similar app.

I support rebranding Standard Notes into Proton Notes. Changing the branding to Standard Notes powered by Proton and making the icon purple might be an option as well.

I think it might be better to have two separate products. Having a simple Proton Notes that works more like Apple Notes, Google Keep, Evernote, etc is essential. It would also be nice to have Standard Notes become a competitor to OneNote. There is no other software that works like OneNote, and it's the only Microsoft Product that I still use for personal use because all of its competitors don't quite match its features and use cases.

I can only agree with my peers here.
For a while now, I've been looking for a cross-platform privacy respecting notes taking app that runs on MacOS (work) and Linux (private).

As a Proton Duo client, I'd love to see Standard Notes in the form of Proton Notes or something like that <3

Agree! pls update UI & name.
Also, Make it possible to take a photo (with a single step) and adjust the picture so it becomes perfect even if it has been taken from a strange angle, and display it immediately in the notes. Very useful if you are attending a long presention and need separate notes to each picture you have taken. Now you have to go to files and attach a picture... that takes to long time.

Rebranding or integrating Standard Notes as Proton Notes would improve visibility and trust. People already recognize the Proton name, so they are more likely to try it. A better UI plus a strong brand could attract more users and increase paid subscriptions.

Just a few notes here (pun not intended), food for thought.

Standard Notes seems not functional anymore and appears to have been abandoned.
Proton Docs is not an appropriate solution for this use case, as it addresses a different scope.
A note taking application is intended to be lightweight and focused on the quick capture and organisation of notes, ideas, and details, similar in nature to tools such as Notion. Supporting Markdown can be useful for some users, but making Markdown the only option limits flexibility and can add unnecessary friction for a simple note taking application.

A note taking application must be lightweight, simple, fast, and well organised. This is particularly important for business use cases, such as managing multiple clients with separate vaults, keeping private notes visible only to the author, or maintaining content that must remain invisible to the client. The application should allow the creation of a new note instantly and without distractions, ideally through a browser extension or a quick action menu. If opening a browser is required every time a note needs to be captured, the process becomes impractical and the application might be abandoned.

The same applies to overly complex applications that require long structural decisions about where to save content, how to organise it, or that enforce a single document based workflow. Note taking is inherently a fast, low friction activity and requires a dedicated solution designed specifically for that workflow.

Reading other comments, someone already mentioned valuable tools such as OneNote, Notesnook, Google Keep, Obsidian, or Notion as reference

This would be a game changer for me. I'd subscribe to Unlimited in a heartbeat if a modernized and streamlined cross-platform Standard Notes app was part of it.

EDIT: Love Markdown!

bring proton notes into the main group of apps rather than it being a different product requiring a different subscription