AlephNote

As its name suggests, AlephNote is a note-taking utility but, right off the bat, we're going to say that this is not quite your run-of-the-mill note taking app.

In a nutshell, this is a very versatile application capable of handling most types of local notes but, more importantly, it also acts as a client for Standard Note, Simplenote, as well as Nextcloud or owncloud notes.

It's quite easy-to-use too, as it does not require much hassle to get it up an running. Simply download the app, unzip its archive, and run it via the designated executable file. The interface is not impressive considering it's somewhat reminiscent of older versions of Windows, however, at least the layout is intuitive and straightforward.

Upon first launching the application, you are presented with two options: you can either use the program in "headless mode" and use locally stored notes or you can configure a remote connection to one of the supported cloud-based note services. To configure a remote connection, go to the Settings section from the Edit menu, General tab, select the storage provider and enter the appropriate credentials (username and passwords in most cases).

It's worth pointing out that you can also set up the synchronization frequency from as little as one minute all the way up to twelve hours. The application also provides support for proxies, as well as a few other customization options located in the View and Text Editor.

Other configurable options include autostart with Windows and various settings related to the text editor (based on Scintilla/SciTE): font choices, powerful search engine with regular expression (Regex) support for Regex, and more.

Taking everything into account, AlephNote is one of those apps that shouldn't be judged solely on its appearance. It's intuitive enough to be used by literally all types of users, it's easy to install and configure and, thanks to its a unique set of features, it's very useful as well.