Self-hosted Evernote alternative: Joplin plus an 'Ask My Notes' AI
The writer moved 12,690 Evernote notes to Joplin Server on a Mac mini and kept the stock iOS, macOS and Android apps. They added a small service that embeds every note locally with Ollama. Claude then answers questions across the archive with links to the source notes. Voice notes are transcribed locally with Whisper.
Setup steps
- Run Joplin Server and Postgres in Docker on an always-on machine; reach it over Tailscale
- Export ENEX from Evernote; Joplin's own importer lost about 11% of notes in testing, so the writer wrote a converter
- Audit every imported note against the original before cancelling
- Index notes locally with Ollama (nomic-embed-text) into sqlite-vec
- Answer questions with Claude using search, read-only SQL and full-note reads, citing source notes
Steps summarized from the original Blog source ↗. Use “Copy” to grab them with the tools and source link, or copy an AI prompt.
How it went
The writer cancelled their roughly $250/yr Evernote plan after an audit of all 12,690 notes found zero notes lost. The assistant answers content questions and counts, such as how many notes are in a daily journal.
Worth knowing
Joplin's own ENEX importer silently lost about 11% of notes and mangled highlight colours in testing, so a custom converter was needed. An early test against the real sync created about 50,000 deletion records, so run import tests in a throwaway profile.
Only what the original source ↗ says, re-read Oct 25, 2026. How we write these
Try it with AI
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or your own agent for step-by-step help. Prompt written by AppToBot from this recipe's data, not by the original author. It keeps drafts for your review and asks before anything is sent or paid.
Help me set up this automation using Joplin Server + Ollama (nomic-embed-text) + sqlite-vec + Claude API + local Whisper: "Self-hosted Evernote alternative: Joplin plus an 'Ask My Notes' AI". Goal: replace Evernote. How it should work: - Trigger: You ask a question about your notes - Then: Search finds matching chunks (local embeddings) - Then: Claude reads notes and runs SQL over metadata - Result: A cited answer that links to your notes Setup steps (summarized from the original source): 1. Run Joplin Server and Postgres in Docker on an always-on machine; reach it over Tailscale 2. Export ENEX from Evernote; Joplin's own importer lost about 11% of notes in testing, so the writer wrote a converter 3. Audit every imported note against the original before cancelling 4. Index notes locally with Ollama (nomic-embed-text) into sqlite-vec 5. Answer questions with Claude using search, read-only SQL and full-note reads, citing source notes Guide me one step at a time. Ask me for anything you need (accounts, sheet or channel names) before you start. Safety rules: - Build and test with sample data first, and show me a sample result before anything goes live. - Keep anything that goes to other people (emails, posts, replies, record updates) as drafts for my review until I say otherwise. - Never send, post, buy, pay, delete or change records without my approval. - Tell me about any cost (paid plans, API usage) before I'd incur it, and help me set a spending limit. - Keep API keys and passwords out of shared docs and chats. - Privacy: Embeddings and voice transcription run locally; only questions and retrieved passages go to Claude, via a zero-data-retention endpoint (per writer). Private network only (Tailscale). Based on: https://www.slick-engineering.com/blog/2026-06-19-self-hosted-evernote-replacement-joplin-ai-search
Tool names link to each official site (opens in a new tab).
Running cost: API pennies Runs on a Mac mini already on; the only metered cost is Claude API calls, 'cents, not dollars' per the writer. Self-hosted How we sort costs
Stack: Ollama · Claude
App vs bot, side by side
| Old app / habit | Bot | |
|---|---|---|
| Tool | Evernote | Joplin Server in Docker + a FastAPI 'Ask My Notes' service (local embeddings, Claude answers) |
| Monthly cost | About $250/yr (Evernote Advanced, per writer) | About $0/yr recurring plus Claude API cents (per writer) |
| Setup | None (already in use) | Not reported · Advanced |
| Your time | Baseline | Not reported |
| Maintenance | Handled by vendor/you as before | Nightly encrypted backups to R2 with a weekly integrity check; Joplin updates arrive in the stock apps. |
| Privacy | Data stays with the app vendor | Embeddings and voice transcription run locally; only questions and retrieved passages go to Claude, via a zero-data-retention endpoint (per writer). Private network only (Tailscale). |
Full comparison
| Replaces | Evernote |
|---|---|
| Bot / agent stack | Joplin Server in Docker + a FastAPI 'Ask My Notes' service (local embeddings, Claude answers) |
| Monthly cost before | About $250/yr (Evernote Advanced, per writer) |
| Monthly cost after | About $0/yr recurring plus Claude API cents (per writer) |
| Setup time | Not reported |
| Time saved | Not reported |
| Skill level | Advanced |
| Reliability | 4/5: a measured migration audit against the original notes and a tested restore. It still involves a lot of custom code, so it is Hard to copy. |
| Maintenance | Nightly encrypted backups to R2 with a weekly integrity check; Joplin updates arrive in the stock apps. |
| Privacy & data | Embeddings and voice transcription run locally; only questions and retrieved passages go to Claude, via a zero-data-retention endpoint (per writer). Private network only (Tailscale). |
| Best for | Technical users with a big Evernote archive and an always-on machine |
| Not for | Teams, or anyone who wants a no-code switch |
Pros and cons
Pros
- Ask questions across the whole archive, with links to the source notes
- Stock Joplin apps on every device
- Local embeddings and transcription for private notes
Cons
- Weeks of custom engineering (converter, companion apps)
- Single user: no sharing, no handwriting, no in-app PDF annotation
Source and evidence
Detailed first-person engineering blog (Jun 2026): 12,690 notes, 277 notebooks and about 60,000 attachments imported. A script compared every note with the Evernote original before cancelling: zero notes lost, two hand-typed notes with text drops (both repaired). A backup restore was tested.
Read the original Blog source ↗
“Not reported” means the source doesn't say. We never fill gaps with guesses. Numbers marked “per author” or “vendor claim” are the source's own and weren't independently tested. Source last checked Oct 25, 2026.
Our rating is an editorial opinion based on the public source above, not lab testing. Spot an error? Request a correction.
Plain-text summary (for search and AI assistants)
Self-hosted Evernote alternative: Joplin plus an 'Ask My Notes' AI. Replaces Evernote with Joplin Server in Docker + a FastAPI 'Ask My Notes' service (local embeddings, Claude answers). Cost before: About $250/yr (Evernote Advanced, per writer). Cost after: About $0/yr recurring plus Claude API cents (per writer). Setup: Not reported, Advanced. Time saved: Not reported. Reliability 4/5: 4/5: a measured migration audit against the original notes and a tested restore. It still involves a lot of custom code, so it is Hard to copy. Best for: Technical users with a big Evernote archive and an always-on machine. Not for: Teams, or anyone who wants a no-code switch. How it went (per source): The writer cancelled their roughly $250/yr Evernote plan after an audit of all 12,690 notes found zero notes lost. The assistant answers content questions and counts, such as how many notes are in a daily journal. Worth knowing: Joplin's own ENEX importer silently lost about 11% of notes and mangled highlight colours in testing, so a custom converter was needed. An early test against the real sync created about 50,000 deletion records, so run import tests in a throwaway profile. Source: https://www.slick-engineering.com/blog/2026-06-19-self-hosted-evernote-replacement-joplin-ai-search
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