TiddlyWiki

A whole notebook inside one HTML file that you own forever.

Instead of Notion, OneNote

tiddlywiki.com

Screenshot from tiddlywiki.com, taken 2026-10-23, shown to help you recognise the tool. It belongs to its maker. Ask us to remove it.

Leonard in Memento cannot make new memories, so he runs his life on Polaroids, scribbled notes and tattoos, and much of the film's tension comes from not knowing who wrote the notes he is trusting. TiddlyWiki is that system with the worry taken out: all of your notes in a single HTML file that you open in any browser, written by you and kept wherever you keep it, where they never depend on a company. It is open source and has been maintained since 2004.

Leonard's system had one copy of everything, and a file can be copied, backed up and handed to someone else like any other. TiddlyWiki scores a 5 on footprint, lock-in, self-direction, power and longevity. The cost is learning: it looks unusual and takes some getting used to, so expect to spend a little time finding out how it likes to be used.

Saving is the other thing it asks of you. Saving the file takes a little extra effort in some browsers, and Delivery is a 3 partly for that reason. We did not look into which browsers are awkward, so check the project's own page for yours before trusting it with notes you would hate to lose.

Living with it means one file you keep the way you keep a document, copied wherever you want a backup and still opening in whatever browser you happen to have.

What stands out

• A whole notebook in a single HTML file
• Maintained since 2004
• Unusual to learn

For comparison, we also reviewed Microsoft Word (15/30) as a benchmark.