[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":57},["Reactive",2],{"blog-post-notes-apps-that-keep-your-notes-as-markdown-files":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"description":6,"excerpt":7,"date":8,"category":9,"author":10,"keywords":11,"readingMinutes":12,"html":13,"headings":14,"tools":34,"related":40},"notes-apps-that-keep-your-notes-as-markdown-files","Notes Apps That Keep Your Notes as Markdown Files (and Ones That Don't)","Where your notes actually live decides how hard it is to leave an app later. Which popular notes apps store plain Markdown, which lock notes in a cloud workspace, and how to pick.","Most \"best notes app\" lists rank apps by features. The question that matters more in five years is simpler: where do the notes live? If they are Markdown files in a folder, you can open them in…","2026-10-21","Guide","Matthew Rathbone","notes app markdown files, obsidian alternatives, notion alternatives, onenote alternatives, evernote alternatives, local first notes app, plain text notes",3,"\u003Cp>Most "best notes app" lists rank apps by features. The question that matters more in five years is simpler: \u003Cstrong>where do the notes live?\u003C/strong> If they are Markdown files in a folder, you can open them in any editor, back them up with any tool and leave whenever you like. If they sit in a vendor's cloud workspace, leaving means an export step that may lose structure.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>This guide sorts the popular apps by that one question, then points you to the detailed pages in our \u003Ca href=\"/directory\">directory\u003C/a> for pricing and comparisons. Facts come from each vendor's own site and were checked in October 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the vendor page before you buy.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"the-three-storage-models\">The three storage models\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cdiv class=\"table-responsive\">\u003Ctable class=\"table\">\n\u003Cthead>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Cth>Model\u003C/th>\n\u003Cth>What it means\u003C/th>\n\u003Cth>Examples\u003C/th>\n\u003C/tr>\n\u003C/thead>\n\u003Ctbody>\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd>Plain files on disk\u003C/td>\n\u003Ctd>Each note is a \u003Ccode>.md\u003C/code> or \u003Ccode>.txt\u003C/code> file you can see in your file manager\u003C/td>\n\u003Ctd>Obsidian, Typora, iA Writer, Zettlr\u003C/td>\n\u003C/tr>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd>Local database or open format\u003C/td>\n\u003Ctd>Notes are stored locally, usually with an export or sync layer\u003C/td>\n\u003Ctd>Joplin, Logseq, Anytype\u003C/td>\n\u003C/tr>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd>Vendor cloud workspace\u003C/td>\n\u003Ctd>Notes live on the vendor's servers in their own page format\u003C/td>\n\u003Ctd>Notion, Evernote, OneNote, AppFlowy Cloud\u003C/td>\n\u003C/tr>\n\u003C/tbody>\u003C/table>\u003C/div>\n\u003Cp>Bear sits between the first and third: it is an Apple-only app that uses Markdown formatting but keeps notes in its own library rather than loose files.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"plain-files-on-disk\">Plain files on disk\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Obsidian\u003C/strong> keeps notes as ordinary Markdown files in a folder. The app is free for personal use, and Sync costs $4 per user per month billed annually. It is proprietary, which matters if open source is a requirement. See \u003Ca href=\"/directory/alternatives/obsidian\">Obsidian alternatives\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Typora\u003C/strong> is a one-time $14.99 license and shows formatting inline as you type. \u003Cstrong>iA Writer\u003C/strong> is sold per platform with no subscription. Both are writing tools more than knowledge bases, so they suit drafts, articles and documentation rather than a web of linked notes. Compare them in \u003Ca href=\"/directory/compare/typora-vs-ia-writer\">Typora vs iA Writer\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Zettlr\u003C/strong> is GPL-3.0 licensed and aimed at academic writing with citations. It is free.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"open-formats-and-local-first\">Open formats and local-first\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Logseq\u003C/strong> is open source (AGPL-3.0) and stores local Markdown or Org-mode files, but in an outline format where every line is a block. That is great for daily journals and awkward if you want to open a note as a normal document. Read \u003Ca href=\"/directory/compare/obsidian-vs-logseq\">Obsidian vs Logseq\u003C/a> for the trade-offs.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Joplin\u003C/strong> is open source, lets you choose your own sync service and supports end-to-end encrypted sync. It is the usual answer to "I want something free that I can host myself". See \u003Ca href=\"/directory/compare/obsidian-vs-joplin\">Obsidian vs Joplin\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Anytype\u003C/strong> is local-first and peer-to-peer. Note that its license is source available, not an OSI open source license, so do not describe it as open source. See \u003Ca href=\"/directory/compare/obsidian-vs-anytype\">Obsidian vs Anytype\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"cloud-workspaces\">Cloud workspaces\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Notion\u003C/strong> is the dominant choice for teams who want pages, databases and wikis in one place. It imports and exports Markdown, but the native format is blocks, so exports are a conversion. If you are leaving Notion, start with \u003Ca href=\"/directory/alternatives/notion\">Notion alternatives\u003C/a>, and for a self-hostable option read \u003Ca href=\"/directory/compare/notion-vs-appflowy\">Notion vs AppFlowy\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Evernote\u003C/strong> and \u003Cstrong>Microsoft OneNote\u003C/strong> are older, general purpose note apps. Neither is built around Markdown. OneNote is free to use and strong for pen and handwritten notes; Microsoft 365 plans start at $9.99 per month and add Copilot features. Evernote's free plan is limited to 50 notes and one synced device. See \u003Ca href=\"/directory/alternatives/evernote\">Evernote alternatives\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"/directory/alternatives/onenote\">OneNote alternatives\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"/directory/compare/evernote-vs-onenote\">Evernote vs OneNote\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"how-to-choose\">How to choose\u003C/h2>\n\u003Col>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>You want to own your files.\u003C/strong> Obsidian if proprietary is fine, Zettlr or Joplin if it is not.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>You write long documents.\u003C/strong> Typora or iA Writer.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>You think in linked outlines.\u003C/strong> Logseq.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>You work with a team.\u003C/strong> Notion or AppFlowy. AppFlowy is the self-hostable choice.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>You live in Microsoft 365 or take handwritten notes.\u003C/strong> OneNote.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ol>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"moving-notes-between-apps\">Moving notes between apps\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Switching rarely loses text, but it can lose structure. Before you commit to a move, test it with 20 real notes, not an empty vault. Two things break most often: internal links (every app writes them differently) and tables or databases from workspace tools.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Our free tools cover the common conversions without uploading anything:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"/tools/markdown-to-html\">Markdown to HTML\u003C/a> for publishing notes to a site\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"/tools/word-to-markdown\">Word to Markdown\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"/tools/pdf-to-markdown\">PDF to Markdown\u003C/a> for importing old documents\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"/tools/markdown-to-notion\">Markdown to Notion\u003C/a> when you are moving into Notion\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"/tools/markdown-table-formatter\">Markdown table formatter\u003C/a> to clean up tables after an export\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>If you only remember one rule, make it this one: the format your notes are stored in outlasts every feature on the comparison chart.\u003C/p>\n",[15,19,22,25,28,31],{"id":16,"text":17,"level":18},"the-three-storage-models","The three storage models",2,{"id":20,"text":21,"level":18},"plain-files-on-disk","Plain files on disk",{"id":23,"text":24,"level":18},"open-formats-and-local-first","Open formats and local-first",{"id":26,"text":27,"level":18},"cloud-workspaces","Cloud workspaces",{"id":29,"text":30,"level":18},"how-to-choose","How to choose",{"id":32,"text":33,"level":18},"moving-notes-between-apps","Moving notes between apps",[35,36,37,38,39],"markdown-to-html","word-to-markdown","pdf-to-markdown","markdown-to-notion","markdown-table-formatter",[41,49],{"slug":42,"title":43,"description":44,"excerpt":45,"date":46,"category":47,"author":10,"keywords":48,"readingMinutes":18},"ruby-on-rails-markdown-with-active-record","Integrate Markdown in Rails Apps with ActiveRecord","Learn how to add Markdown support to Ruby on Rails applications using ActiveRecord and Redcarpet for blog functionalities.","In this tutorial we're going to demonstrate how you can integrate Markdown in your Ruby on Rails application, especially when the context involves ActiveRecord models.","2024-07-01","Tutorial","Ruby on rails markdown with active record",{"slug":50,"title":51,"description":52,"excerpt":53,"date":54,"category":47,"author":10,"keywords":55,"readingMinutes":56},"markdown-comments-complete-guide","Markdown Comments: Complete Guide to Hidden Text, Documentation Notes, and Development Annotations","Master Markdown comment syntax for adding hidden notes, development annotations, and structured documentation. Learn HTML comments, custom comment patterns, and best practices for maintainable Markdown files.","Markdown comments enable sophisticated documentation workflows by providing hidden text capabilities, development annotations, and structural organization within content files. While Markdown…","2025-12-27","markdown comments, markdown hidden text, html comments markdown, markdown documentation notes, markdown annotations, markdown development notes, hidden markdown content, markdown comment syntax",10,1792653288527]