Markdown notes

Knowledge bases and note-taking systems built around plain text.

31 tools

How to choose a Markdown note-taking app

Consider where notes are stored, how sync works, and whether the app supports backlinks, mobile capture, encryption, and standard Markdown files you can move elsewhere.

Find your fit

Editor capabilities

Optional. Requires verified editing support. All selected capabilities must match.

31 tools

Showing 25–31 of 31

Freemium

MarkSchrift

A live-rendering Markdown workspace for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

A plain-text workspace for writing, planning, and study that renders Markdown as you type while every note stays an ordinary .md file. Notes live in a linked, searchable vault with wiki links, backlinks, and tags, and plain-text tasks feed an agenda, project pages, and a weekly review. Optional end-to-end encrypted live collaboration, polytonic Greek and pointed Hebrew input, LaTeX math, and PDF, Word, and HTML export cover longer projects.

Mobile app · Desktop app
iOS · macOS

Writing, task planning, and study in Markdown files you own across iPhone, iPad, and Mac

FreeOpen source

Markraft

A floating Markdown notepad that opens over any Mac app.

A free open-source Mac notepad that appears over the current app from a keyboard shortcut, formats Markdown as you type, and saves each note as a plain .md file in a folder you choose. Notes can live in an existing Obsidian vault, and tables, task lists, code blocks, images, wiki links, and full-text note search work without an account or cloud service.

Desktop app
macOS

Capturing quick plain-text notes over whatever app is already open on macOS

Freemium

Consilience

Connect Markdown documents through an AI knowledge graph.

A Markdown workspace that extracts concepts and relationships from documents for knowledge exploration and semantic search. Review connections alongside source evidence, edit the underlying notes, and use an AI agent across your workspace. Available in the browser and on macOS and Windows, with a free workspace tier and paid plans for additional agent usage.

Web app · Desktop app
Web · macOS · Windows

Inline live previewLocal files

Researchers and teams exploring relationships across a collection of Markdown documents

Free

VanillaPad

A self-hosted Markdown notepad with file management and multi-cursor editing.

A browser-based notepad built with PHP and vanilla JavaScript that stores notes as plain-text files on your own server, without a database or build step. It combines Markdown preview, multi-cursor editing, search and replace, folder organization, file concatenation, and inline media. Free for personal, non-commercial, single-user use under a proprietary license. The public demo uses analytics; self-hosting requires a compatible PHP server.

Web app
Web

Raw sourceRendered reading

Personal Markdown notes and text files managed through a browser on your own PHP server

Freemium

Soot

Write calm notes in Markdown files you own.

Soot is a Mac and iPhone notes editor whose formatted writing surface keeps Markdown syntax out of the way. Each Mac note is a plain .md file in a folder you choose. The editor is free, while optional Soot Pro adds encrypted device sync. It is currently available through a TestFlight beta invitation requested on the official site.

Desktop app · Mobile app
macOS · iOS

Raw sourceInline live previewLocal files

People who want simple Mac notes that remain accessible as ordinary Markdown files

Free

Rook

Keep code notes in a native Mac app.

Rook combines formatted notes, code blocks, syntax highlighting, tables, and to-do lists in a local macOS app. It can import Markdown and export individual notes as Markdown or JSON. Its optional local MCP helper accepts new notes from supported AI clients. The app is free; the public MIT repository contains the website, helper, and community notes, while the compiled Mac app is proprietary.

Desktop app
macOS

Visual (WYSIWYG)Rendered reading

Mac developers who keep reusable notes and code snippets

FreeOpen source

Netherstone

Write local Markdown notes in a visual desktop workspace.

Netherstone stores each document as a plain Markdown file in a folder you choose. Its formatted editor supports tables, to-dos, document outlines, search, links between notes, and drawings. The app works offline; optional sync uses your own GitHub account. Public beta builds are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Desktop app
macOS · Windows · Linux

Inline live previewRendered readingLocal files

Keeping portable Markdown notes in a desktop vault with optional sync

An unlisted capability may be unverified. Pricing describes the product; individual features may require a paid plan.

Markdown notes

Knowledge bases and note-taking systems built around plain text.

31 tools

How to choose a Markdown note-taking app

Consider where notes are stored, how sync works, and whether the app supports backlinks, mobile capture, encryption, and standard Markdown files you can move elsewhere.

Find your fit

Editor capabilities

Optional. Requires verified editing support. All selected capabilities must match.

31 tools

Showing 25–31 of 31

Freemium

MarkSchrift

A live-rendering Markdown workspace for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Mobile app · Desktop app
iOS · macOS

Writing, task planning, and study in Markdown files you own across iPhone, iPad, and Mac

FreeOpen source

Markraft

A floating Markdown notepad that opens over any Mac app.

Desktop app
macOS

Capturing quick plain-text notes over whatever app is already open on macOS

Freemium

Consilience

Connect Markdown documents through an AI knowledge graph.

Web app · Desktop app
Web · macOS · Windows

Inline live previewLocal files

Researchers and teams exploring relationships across a collection of Markdown documents

Free

VanillaPad

A self-hosted Markdown notepad with file management and multi-cursor editing.

Web app
Web

Raw sourceRendered reading

Personal Markdown notes and text files managed through a browser on your own PHP server

Freemium

Soot

Write calm notes in Markdown files you own.

Desktop app · Mobile app
macOS · iOS

Raw sourceInline live previewLocal files

People who want simple Mac notes that remain accessible as ordinary Markdown files

Free

Rook

Keep code notes in a native Mac app.

Desktop app
macOS

Visual (WYSIWYG)Rendered reading

Mac developers who keep reusable notes and code snippets

FreeOpen source

Netherstone

Write local Markdown notes in a visual desktop workspace.

Desktop app
macOS · Windows · Linux

Inline live previewRendered readingLocal files

Keeping portable Markdown notes in a desktop vault with optional sync

An unlisted capability may be unverified. Pricing describes the product; individual features may require a paid plan.

How to choose a Markdown note-taking app

Notes in the directory

31 tools

How to choose a Markdown note-taking app

Notes in the directory

31 tools