BasKet Note Pads is a free, open-source KDE note organizer for text, images, links and files. See features, history, and current 2026 status.
BasKet Note Pads is a free, open-source note-taking and organizing application that originated on the KDE desktop for Linux. Its copyright notices trace back to 2003 under original author Sebastien Laout, and it was conceived as a KDE-native equivalent to the Mac scrapbook tool DropDrawers.
Rather than a simple linear notebook, BasKet organizes information into 'baskets' that can hold mixed content, plain text, images, links, files, and more, and can be nested hierarchically to mirror how a user actually organizes topics or projects.
The project is entirely community-maintained and released under the GPLv2 open-source license, with no company or commercial entity behind it. It is distributed through Linux package managers, the KDE Store, and source repositories on GitHub.
BasKet supports pasting or dragging in a wide range of content types into a basket, including rich text, images, links, email addresses, files, application launchers, colors, and screen captures, making it more of a flexible information collector than a plain-text note app.
Notes can be tagged with labels like Important, Information, Idea, Work, or Personal, and multi-state tags allow notes to double as checkboxes, progress indicators, or priority markers, giving BasKet lightweight to-do list functionality alongside free-form notes.
The application includes import tools for migrating data from other note applications, including KNotes, KJots, KnowIt, TuxCards, Sticky Notes, and Tomboy, which historically made it a common consolidation point for Linux desktop users.
BasKet Note Pads is entirely free to download and use, with no paid tier, subscription, or license fee, consistent with its status as a volunteer-maintained open-source KDE project.
Because it is open source under the GPLv2 license, the source code is publicly available for anyone to inspect, modify, or redistribute, and there is no vendor to purchase support or upgrades from.
Users install it through Linux distribution package managers, the KDE Store, or by building it from source, and any costs involved are limited to the general costs of running Linux hardware rather than the software itself.
Yes. BasKet Note Pads is free, open-source software released under the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2), with no paid tiers.
BasKet Note Pads was built for the KDE desktop environment on Linux; it is distributed through Linux package managers and the KDE Store.
BasKet was originally created by Sebastien Laout, with copyright notices dating the project's origin to around 2003, and has since had contributions from other developers.
Yes. BasKet can import data from several other note applications, including KNotes, KJots, KnowIt, TuxCards, Sticky Notes, and Tomboy.
The project has had periods of slower activity, but it remains listed on the KDE Store and KDE Applications catalog and has seen renewed development including a port targeting Qt6 and KDE Frameworks 6.
A basket can hold plain and rich text, images, links, email addresses, files, application launchers, and colors picked from the screen.
It supports lightweight to-do functionality through multi-state tags that can act as checkboxes, progress bars, or priority indicators on notes.
No. BasKet is a volunteer, community-maintained open-source project with no company, headquarters, or commercial backing.