When comparing Gingko vs Notebooks, the Slant community recommends Gingko for most people. In the question“What are the best Evernote alternatives?” Gingko is ranked 17th while Notebooks is ranked 30th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro You can customize colors
Pro Allows focusing on one piece of information at a time
Since Gingko documents are "trees", they are always organized on the go. And since everything is written in cards, it is possible to focus on one chunk of content at a time.
Pro Easy to overview
Despite the complexity of the tree structure, it's always clear where you are, and how to quickly add your thoughts.
Pro Markdown support
All formatting is done via Markdown.
Pro Non-linear
Non-linear notetaking allows you more flexibility, freedom and creativity.
Pro You control how to sync the data - better privacy
Services like Paper (Dropbox), Evernote, Google, OneNote (Microsoft)... and many others, keep your data in format they can read when it syncs with their servers. That means their admins can read your data (see recent scandal with Evernote privacy policy), they can be compelled to give it to law-enforcement and, if hackers manage to breach their servers, the hackers can read it too.
With Notebooks, you choose how to sync your data, which means that you can do it using a privacy-friendly service, such as SpiderOak, Tresorit, Sync.com or iDrive, which sync your data using end-to-end encryption. This means that although they use their servers to sync your data, their servers store an encrypted version to which the service does not hold the key. Your data stays private.
Pro Powerful and grows according to your needs
Notebooks have many features including WYSIWYG editing and Markdown support. While these may be considered power-user features, they are there if the user ever needs them. This makes the app versatile, as it can appeal to the user who just wants to take notes just as much as the user who needs to edit complicated documents.
Pro No recurring fees
There are no reoccurring fees connected to this app: pay once for the platform you would like to use it on, and that's it.
Pro Available on multiple platforms
As an Evernote alternative, Notebooks is available on iOS as well as OS X and Windows operating systems. This makes for a convenient way to manage one's notes or tasks on multiple devices
Cons
Con Limited free version
The free version is limited to 100 cards and 10 documents. Depending on how you use it, this might not be enough.
Con No Linux support
Not able to install on any Linux-based OS.
Con Each platform app has an individual cost
Say if you want to use the desktop app on OSX, that will have an individual cost. This cost does not carry over if the Windows app needs to be used as that has its own cost as well. Basically you have to pay for each platform you want to use this app on. While there are no recurring fees, the individual cost for each platform can add up.
Con Cloud sharing has to be done with a third party
Notebooks does not provide its own synchronizing and back-up. The user will therefore need to use a service (such as Dropbox) which has built-in support, but which is a service not connected with the creators of this app.