tech from europe
Note-Taking & Knowledge Base

Zettlr

🇩🇪 DE

Open-source Markdown editor for research and writing

Open source
Visit website →Compare
Zettlr is a free, open-source Markdown editor designed for researchers and writers. It supports the entire writing process from notes to publication, with features like citation management and PDF export. Local file storage ensures full data control.

Replaces

Zettlr is sought as a European alternative to:

OneNoteOneNote

Features

Note Management & Organization

  • Markdown authoring with WYSIWYG or in-place preview
  • Note tagging and tag management
  • Wiki-style internal links and note IDs
  • Graph view for visualizing note connections
  • Zettelkasten/PKMS support with seamless navigation
  • File linking and related files support
  • Project support with journal and conference templates

Citation & Reference Management

  • First-class citation support with 9,000+ styles
  • Integration with Zotero, JabRef, and Juris-M
  • BibTeX, JSON, and other citation formats
  • Preview citations
  • Citation manager with reference library loading

Writing Assistance & Productivity

  • LanguageTool, spellcheck, and Markdown lint integration
  • Auto-wrap for quotation marks and parentheses
  • Timestamps for marking key interview moments
  • Snippets system with variables and tabstops
  • Custom CSS for app appearance
  • Writing statistics
  • Full-text search
  • Split-view functionality
  • Code highlighting (LaTeX, Mermaid)

Export & Publishing

  • Pandoc-supported export (30+ formats: PDF, Word, HTML, OPML, EDN, JSON)
  • One-click journal submission templates
  • Presentation profiles for Beamer, reveal.js, PowerPoint
  • Custom templates for journals and conferences

User Interface & Customization

  • Multi-language support (40+ languages)
  • Dark mode
  • Theme customization
  • Markdown preview (in-place or WYSIWYG)

Privacy & Security

  • Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
  • No forced cloud synchronization
  • No telemetry, A/B testing, or hidden costs
  • Files remain on the user's device
  • Optional internet connection disabling

EU Trust Profile

1 of 9 criteria verified with evidence, last checked 2026-08-16. Every ✓ links to its source.

  • Data Processing Agreement (DPA)not verified
  • Trust center / security pagenot offered

    No dedicated trust center; only a privacy page with GDPR information.

  • EU data residencyGermany
    Evidence →
  • Public sub-processor listnot verified
  • ISO 27001not verified
  • SOC 2not verified
  • BSI C5not verified
  • TISAXnot verified
  • Local-language supportnot verified

✓ verified: publicly documented at the linked source on the check date. ✗ not offered: the vendor documents that they do not provide it. – not verified: we found no public evidence either way — not a finding against the vendor. The vendor's own information prevails.

Work at Zettlr?

This badge is free for every vendor we list and has no bearing on the order of any list. It is issued on the basis of a verified European headquarters (DE) and the compliance claims we checked against public sources — the date on it is the date we last checked.

Zettlr — verified European company on tech-from-europe.euZettlr — verified European company on tech-from-europe.eu

The badge is issued to the vendor rather than left in public: claim the profile with a work email and we'll send it to you, along with a form for correcting anything we got wrong.

Claim this profile →

Something wrong on this page? Write to hello@tech-from-europe.eu with a public link and we will re-check it.

Integrations

ZoteroJabRefJuris-MLanguageToolSpellcheckMarkdown lintApple IntelligencePandocGitHub

Feature, pricing and integration details are based on web research (as of 2026-08-16), without guarantee, errors are possible. The vendor's website prevails.