Comparison

Butterfly is a note-taking app that aims for a unified experience across all platforms. It combines a simple UI with powerful customization. This page compares Butterfly to other popular note-taking and drawing applications to highlight what makes Butterfly unique.

This comparison reflects Butterfly 2.6.0 and later. See the changelog for changes in newer releases.

Quick Comparison Table

Feature	Butterfly	OneNote	Obsidian	Excalidraw	Xournal++	Samsung Notes
Open Source	✅ Yes (AGPL-3.0)	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes (MIT)	✅ Yes (GPL-2.0)	❌ No
Cost	Free	Free	Free (personal)	Free + Paid tiers	Free	Free
Android	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅
Windows	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅ (Windows 10)	🟧 Limited (Samsung devices ONLY)
Linux	✅	❌	✅	❌	✅	❌
macOS	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌
Web	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Infinite Canvas	✅ Full	✅ Positive coords only	✅	✅	❌ Fixed pages	❌ Fixed pages
Handwriting	✅	✅	🟧 Limited	✅ Drawing	✅	✅
Custom Colors	✅ Full palette	✅	✅ Themes	✅	✅	✅
PDF Import	✅	✅	🟧 Limited	❌	✅	✅
PDF Export	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
SVG Support	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌
Offline Use	✅	✅	✅	✅ Basic	✅	✅
Cloud Sync	WebDAV	OneDrive/SharePoint	Paid sync	Paid collab	Handleiding	OneDrive/Samsung Cloud

Detailed Comparisons

Butterfly vs Microsoft OneNote

Similarities:

• Infinite canvas for freeform note-taking
• Strong handwriting and drawing support
• Support for images and multimedia content
• Cross-platform availability

Butterfly Advantages:

• Open source – You can inspect, modify, and contribute to the code
• True infinite canvas – No coordinate limitations
• Better privacy – Store data locally or choose your own WebDAV provider
• Lighter weight – Faster startup and lower resource usage
• SVG support – Vector graphics import and export
• No vendor lock-in – Your data stays under your control
• OneNote import – Convert .one sections and .onepkg notebooks into Butterfly documents. See the OneNote import guide for supported content and conversion limits

OneNote Advantages:

• Deep Microsoft ecosystem integration – Works seamlessly with Office 365
• Advanced OCR – Text recognition from handwritten notes and images
• Enterprise features – Advanced sharing and permission management

Best for:

• Butterfly: Privacy-conscious users, Linux users, those wanting lightweight open-source solutions
• OneNote: Microsoft ecosystem users, teams needing collaboration, macOS users

Butterfly vs Obsidian

Similarities:

• Cross-platform support
• Customizable interface and themes
• Local data storage with sync options
• Markdown support, including formatted labels on the canvas

Butterfly Advantages:

• Canvas-based interface – Freeform drawing and note placement
• Built-in drawing tools – No plugins required for handwriting
• Simpler learning curve – Ready to use out of the box
• Better for visual thinkers – Infinite canvas for mind mapping
• Web version available – No installation required

Obsidian Advantages:

• Powerful linking system – Bidirectional links between notes
• Markdown-based – Future-proof plain text format
• Advanced search – Complex queries and filtering
• Graph view – Visualize connections between notes
• Better for text-heavy notes – Structured note organization
• Plugin/extension support – For enhanced functionality

Best for:

• Butterfly: Visual note-takers, sketching, casual note-taking, students
• Obsidian: Knowledge workers, researchers, those building personal knowledge bases

Butterfly vs Excalidraw

Similarities:

• Excellent drawing and diagramming capabilities
• Clean, intuitive interface
• Web-based accessibility
• Open-source foundation
• Hand-drawn aesthetic for diagrams
• Reusable components through Butterfly packs

Butterfly Advantages:

• Mobile apps – iOS and Android support
• Desktop applications – Windows and Linux apps available
• Text editing – Rich text, Markdown, mathematical formulas, and tables
• File management – Organize notes with pages and structure
• PDF import – Annotate existing documents
• Offline-first – Works without an internet connection

Excalidraw Advantages:

• Collaboration focus – Real-time collaborative drawing; Butterfly’s collaboration is experimental and requires enabling an experiment
• Excalidraw Plus features – Professional collaboration tools
• Integration friendly – Embeds well in other applications
• Specialized for diagrams – Purpose-built for technical drawings

Best for:

• Butterfly: General note-taking with drawing, mobile users, offline work
• Excalidraw: Team diagramming, technical documentation, collaborative sketching

Butterfly vs Xournal++

Similarities:

• Excellent handwriting support
• PDF annotation capabilities
• Open-source and free
• Cross-platform (Windows, Linux)
• Stylus/pen input optimization

Butterfly Advantages:

• Mobile support – iOS and Android support
• Web version – Browser-based access
• Modern interface – Contemporary design and UX
• Infinite canvas – Not limited to page boundaries
• Cloud sync – WebDAV integration built-in
• Multiple export formats – SVG, PNG, PDF support
• Xournal++ compatibility – Import and export .xopp files alongside PDF workflows

Xournal++ Advantages:

• Built with GTK – Natively integrated in the GNOME interface
• Audio recording – Link audio notes to written content

Best for:

• Butterfly: Mobile note-taking, modern UI preferences, cloud sync needs
• Xournal++: Academic users, PDF-heavy workflows

Butterfly vs Samsung Notes

Similarities:

• Excellent handwriting support
• PDF annotation capabilities
• Free
• Stylus/pen input optimization
• Sjablonen

Butterfly Advantages:

• Mobile support – iOS and Android support
• Web version – Browser-based access
• Infinite canvas – Not limited to page boundaries
• Cloud sync – WebDAV integration built-in
• Multiple export formats – SVG, PNG, PDF support
• Cross-platform – Windows, Android, iOS, and Linux

Samsung Notes Advantages:

• Native OneUI – OneUI’s interface design
• Audio recording – Link audio notes to written content
• Optimized for Samsung devices – Works best on Samsung devices running OneUI, Samsung’s operating system

Best for:

• Butterfly: Mobile note-taking, cloud sync needs, infinite canvas, cross-platform usage
• Samsung Notes: PDF-heavy workflows, Samsung devices

Migration and Compatibility

From OneNote:

• Export a section as .one or a notebook as .onepkg, then choose Add → Import → OneNote in Butterfly. Native OneNote import is available from 2.6.0-beta.1 onward
• Follow the OneNote import guide for export instructions, supported content, import limitations, and XPS printout conversion
• Review the imported pages and keep the original notebook: unsupported objects may be omitted, and formatting can differ
• Use PDF export and import when a rendered copy is sufficient
• Consider using WebDAV sync to replace OneDrive synchronization

From Obsidian:

• Import Markdown files using Add → Import → File, or add formatted text with the Label tool
• Convert Markdown files to PDF for import if needed
• Review links and formatting after import; Obsidian’s vault structure and plugins are not converted into Butterfly features
• Use Butterfly’s infinite canvas for mind maps instead of the graph view

From Excalidraw:

• Export drawings as SVG and import them into Butterfly. The SVG is placed as an image rather than converted into editable Butterfly shapes; see Importing
• For shared editing, see Butterfly’s experimental collaboration. WebDAV sync keeps files synchronized between devices
• Transition from pure diagramming to mixed note-taking

From Xournal++:

• Import .xopp files directly using Add → Import → File, or export annotated PDFs from Xournal++ and import them into Butterfly
• Review imported handwriting, images, and page layout. Butterfly can also export to Xournal++ when you need to move a copy back
• Adapt from a page-based to an infinite canvas workflow

From Samsung Notes:

• Export notes as PDFs and import them into Butterfly
• Handwritten annotations should be redrawn in Butterfly for the best experience
• Adapt from a page-based to an infinite canvas workflow