A note by planeours
Best for: a warm note that arrives as a paper plane, and an answer back.
- Gone once read
- No: it opens again until it expires
- Lasts
- 7 days
- Replies
- Yes: fold one back, or stamp it
Send a note by plane › Privnote alternatives
Private note links, compared
For a password or anything that must vanish once it’s read, use a read-once tool: Privnote (its default), Onetime Secret, or Yopass or PrivateBin if you’d rather run your own. For a note to a person (a thank-you, a joke, a hello), a note by plane is sealed the same way, arrives as a paper plane, and they can fold one back.
We make notes by plane. What the others do is from their own sites and documentation, read on 14 November 2026.
How a private note link works
The best of these tools lock your note in your own browser before it’s sent, with a key that only the link holds: usually the part after the #. Browsers never send that part to a server, so the server keeps only scrambled text it can’t read, and whoever has the whole link can open it.
That means the link is the secret. Send it the way you’d send the note itself, to the person it’s for. The other choice to make is how long it should last: once (read-once, then destroyed), or for a while.
Side by side
| A note by plane | Privnote | Onetime Secret | Yopass | PrivateBin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locked in your browser | Yes, and the key is only in the link, after the # | Yes, and the key is only in the link | No: encrypted on the server, in transit and at rest | Yes, and the key is in the link, after the # | Yes, and the key is in the link, after the # |
| Gone once read | No: it opens again until it expires | Yes by default; or kept for a set time (1 hour to 30 days) | Yes, behind a “view” step so link previews don’t use it up | Yes, or kept until it expires | Optional (“burn after reading”) |
| How long it lasts | 7 days | Read once, or 1 hour to 30 days; unread notes go after 30 days | Up to 14 days free (longer on paid plans) | You choose | You choose, up to never |
| Replies | Yes: fold one back, or stamp it | No | No | No | Yes: threaded discussions |
| Account | None | None | None needed | None | None |
| Open source | No | No | Yes (MIT) | Yes (Apache 2.0) | Yes (Zlib) |
| Best for | A warm note that arrives as a paper plane, and an answer back | A quick secret that vanishes once it’s read | Passwords and secrets at work, with a receipt to see if it was read | Teams that want to run their own, for passwords | Longer text and code, shared privately, on a server you trust |
Which to use
Privnote
Best for: a quick secret that vanishes once it’s read.
- Gone once read
- Yes by default; or kept for a set time (1 hour to 30 days)
- Lasts
- Read once, or 1 hour to 30 days; unread notes go after 30 days
- Replies
- No
Read on 14 November 2026: privnote.com (archived), its FAQ (archived)
Onetime Secret
Best for: passwords and secrets at work, with a receipt to see if it was read.
- Gone once read
- Yes, behind a “view” step so link previews don’t use it up
- Lasts
- Up to 14 days free (longer on paid plans)
- Replies
- No
Read on 14 November 2026: sharing a secret, data protection
Yopass
Best for: teams that want to run their own, for passwords.
- Gone once read
- Yes, or kept until it expires
- Lasts
- You choose
- Replies
- No
Read on 14 November 2026: its README
PrivateBin
Best for: longer text and code, shared privately, on a server you trust.
- Gone once read
- Optional (“burn after reading”)
- Lasts
- You choose, up to never
- Replies
- Yes: threaded discussions
Read on 14 November 2026: privatebin.info
Questions
What is the best alternative to Privnote?
For passwords and secrets at work, Onetime Secret: free with no account, read once, open source, with a receipt to see if it was read. To run your own, Yopass or PrivateBin. For a personal note that should feel like one, a note by plane.
Is Privnote safe?
Privnote says your note is encrypted in your browser and that the key is only in the link, so the link is what matters: anyone who gets it can open the note. By default a Privnote is destroyed once it’s read.
Can a self-destructing note be opened twice?
Not in read-once mode: once it’s shown, it’s gone. Some tools let you keep a note for a set time instead (Privnote from an hour to 30 days); a note by plane always opens again until it expires after 7 days.
How does the key in a private link stay private?
Many of these tools put the key after the # in the link. Browsers never send that part to a server, so the server stores only scrambled text it can’t read. Whoever has the whole link has the key.
Can I reply to a private note?
Most of these tools are one-way. PrivateBin has threaded discussions under a paste, and a note by plane can be folded back with an answer, or stamped and sent home.
Send a note by plane
Write a few lines, fold them into a paper plane, and send the link. When they open it, the plane flies in, lands and unfolds into your note. Free, with no account.