Software Alternatives & Reviews

xournal VS RedNotebook

Compare xournal VS RedNotebook and see what are their differences

xournal logo xournal

Lightweight notetaking and sketching app.

RedNotebook logo RedNotebook

RedNotebook is a software that format, tag and search entries and add pictures, links and customizable templates, spell check notes, and export to plain text, HTML, Latex or PDF.
  • xournal Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-02-25
  • RedNotebook Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22

xournal videos

Xournal: Annotate, Edit, Handwrite, Comment & Highlight on PDF

More videos:

  • Review - Xournal and OneNote - An Overview
  • Review - Xournal on Ubuntu Precise Pangolin 12.04

RedNotebook videos

RedNotebook - App Reviews

More videos:

  • Review - RedNoteBook to keep tabs of your 2018 new year resolutions
  • Review - RedNotebook

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to xournal and RedNotebook)
Note Taking
31 31%
69% 69
Task Management
34 34%
66% 66
Todos
40 40%
60% 60
Office & Productivity
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

RedNotebook might be a bit more popular than xournal. We know about 8 links to it since March 2021 and only 7 links to xournal. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

xournal mentions (7)

  • Rnote – An open-source vector-based drawing app
    Please note that the original app was Xournal [1]. The one you link is a rewrite of the orignal (in C++) and is called Xournal++. [1] https://xournal.sourceforge.net/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Ask HN: When did you stop using printers and why?
    I do the using Xournal [1] which is tailor-made for creating annotations. It leaves the PDF as is, saving your edits to a sidecar file (*.xoj) which when loaded pulls in the original PDF. It exports edited documents to 'real' PDFs with selectable text etc. [1] https://xournal.sourceforge.net/ (packaged by most distributions). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Is there good way to apply a hand written signature to a pdf in linux?
    If you don't mind the signature being raster (not vector), I've used Xournal for this in the past. It's extremely lightweight and easy. Just open the PDF file with Xournal, draw the signature, and then export it to PDF (Control + E). This will not rasterise the PDF itself (to the best of my knowledge), but rather just superimposes a layer containing your signature on top of the original PDF. Source: about 2 years ago
  • The Xournal ++ app
    Xournal++ exists since 2013. Maybe you typoed and by your comment about abandoning you were referring to Xournal without the ++? The Xournal website even suggests to try Xournal++. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Adobe Acrobat not provided by the university, how do you read/edit PDFs?
    Xournal works pretty well for me on GNU/Linux. You just have to turn on the "Legacy PDF Export" option. Source: almost 3 years ago
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RedNotebook mentions (8)

  • software wise, what's going to be my best approach? Two screens with a list of jobs and appointments.
    Possibly https://rednotebook.sourceforge.io/ could be a starting point if you want to hack about in Python. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Writing is physically painful
    As for a digital journal on your computer, take a look at RedNotebook. I liked it when I used it, before going back to physical journaling. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • TraderSync - A trading journal that I use
    I was using Microsoft Excel and Rednotebook. I still use Rednotebook as log for research info but no longer use Excel which Excel was being used for viewing my P/L on my trades. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Time tracking
    (by the way I use Red Notebook for my journal. It's spectacular. https://rednotebook.sourceforge.io/). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Please have mercy and just kill me
    What helped me to develop gratitude towards life in spite of everything happening was to start a journal. Get a diary where each day has a separate page. I like to do this in paper, but there are apps or a desktop version of a journal: https://rednotebook.sourceforge.io/. Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing xournal and RedNotebook, you can also consider the following products

Xournal++ - Xournal++ is a handwriting notetaking software with PDF annotation support. Written in C++ with GTK3, supporting Linux (e.g. Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, SUSE), macOS and Windows 10. Supports pen input fr...

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas, write meaningful words, and move your important projects forward.

OneNote - Get the OneNote app for free on your tablet, phone, and computer, so you can capture your ideas and to-do lists in one place wherever you are. Or try OneNote with Office for free.

GoodNotes - GoodNotes lets you take notes and annotate PDF documents.

Simplenote - The simplest way to keep notes. Light, clean, and free. Simplenote is now available for iOS, Android, Mac, and the web.

Jarnal - Jarnal is an open-source application for notetaking, sketching, keeping a journal, making a...