DEVONthink is a powerful application for building a knowledge base and conducting research on macOS/iOS. It offers local storage, encryption, and smart groups.
Everyone knows about typical knowledge bases like Evernote, Notion, or Obsidian. But there are similar tools aimed more at academic use that tend to fly under the radar. One such app is the focus of today’s review.
What is DEVONthink?
DEVONthink is an application for building your own knowledge base and organizing files. Unlike its alternatives, it’s geared for use both at home and in academic or professional research settings.
The main version is available for macOS, with an iOS version also offered. Other operating systems are not supported.
How It Works
To get started with DEVONthink, you don’t need an account. Just install it, and you’re ready to go.
Anyone familiar with similar apps will quickly understand its layout. There are three main panels:
- Left: note navigation
- Center: note preview
- Right: metadata
You can customize the layout and data display to suit your preferences.
However, there are some important differences. When creating a new directory (called a database in DEVONthink), you have three options:
- Regular database
- Encrypted database
- Audit-proof database
You can also create smart groups and workflows. All databases are stored locally, and you can specify the folder location yourself.
The general structure is: database → group (with subgroups or smart groups) → data. However, working with groups can be clunky at first.
For example:
- Creating a subgroup exactly where you want can be tricky, often requiring drag-and-drop, which doesn’t always work smoothly.
- Renaming something is only possible through the metadata panel.
On the other hand, the context menu is advanced, allowing you to quickly move, duplicate, or replicate data. You can also add color labels and tags.
Replication, by the way, means creating a link to the original data in another group or database — the data itself is not moved.
Database Types Explained
Before storing data, it’s worth understanding the differences between the three database types.
A regular database is self-explanatory. The encrypted database allows you to set a password and data size limit during creation. It’s also hidden from Spotlight search.
The audit-proof database offers similar features — you also set a password and size limit, but encryption is optional. Its key feature is how it handles data changes:
- Every change is logged and versioned;
- It supports digital signatures and checksums;
- It complies with various ISO standards for data storage.
Other than these distinctions, all types offer the same features and workflow.
What You Can Store
The new note creation dropdown provides a good overview. You can create:
- Formatted text notes
- Markdown or plain text
- HTML files
- Tables
Templates are also available for things like:
- Accounts and passwords
- Classifiers
- Productivity tools, and more
Note on tables: DEVONthink doesn’t have a visual table editor. You’ll need to define columns and their types manually via a special editor. You can choose column types like Boolean, integer, or decimal.
As for regular note formatting — it’s fairly advanced (though not quite Word-level), offering features like symbol replacement, text transformation, direction switching, and splitting.
As mentioned earlier, each note can have metadata, which supports a wealth of useful information. Notable fields include:
- Custom data
- Author notes
- Aliases
- Source links
- Duplicate/replica data
- Geolocation info
You can also exclude notes from classifiers and search elements.
Smart Groups and Rules
Every new database comes with three built-in smart groups: All Images, All PDFs, and All Duplicates. You can create custom, multi-level rules to gather notes into groups automatically.
You can use AND/OR conditions for any note content.
The difference between a Smart Group and a Smart Rule is simple:
- Smart Groups do not move the source data;
- Smart Rules move notes based on defined conditions.
Data Synchronization
Since data is stored locally, you can set up your own sync using tools like Syncthing.
Alternatively, you can use built-in sync options via iCloud, Dropbox, or WebDAV.
Editor Add-ons
There are no third-party add-ons for DEVONthink, but there is a small official set.
Some are self-explanatory by name; others require installing and exploring, as no documentation is provided on the developer’s site.
Application Add-ons
Like the editor add-ons, there’s no clear explanation on the version page about what each app does or which one to download.
In fact, there are really only two core apps:
- DEVONthink for macOS
- DEVONthink To Go for iOS
Other versions are more like capability extensions rather than editor features. For example:
- DEVONagent (Express / Lite / Pro): A powerful search tool integrated into the menu bar with advanced features.
- DEVONsphere Express: Another search tool, independent of DEVONthink, that searches documents, email, and files locally on your Mac.
Mobile Version
The iOS version is nearly identical to the desktop one. There are no issues editing notes on the go.
DEVONthink Versions and Pricing
DEVONthink comes in three versions: Standard, Pro, and Server. I recommend reviewing the detailed comparison on the official website, but for most users, the Standard version will be enough.
Pricing depends on the version. The cheapest option starts at $99, covering two devices and one year of updates. You can purchase additional space and updates later if needed.
Conclusion
I’ve worked with similar academic tools like ATLAS.ti and Mendeley. DEVONthink feels like Evernote with features from both of those.
If you work solely on macOS and iOS and are looking for such a tool, I’d recommend DEVONthink. It handles all types of data well — both for personal and professional use.
The data structure may take some getting used to, but you’ll adjust fairly quickly.