Zettlr
Free
Visit Zettlrper month on a yearly plan, checked November 1, 2026
Buy through a link here and the vendor pays this site a commission. Your price doesn't change. How that works.
Markdown for academic writing
Free, open source and donation-supported. Files stay on your computer with no forced sync. Windows, macOS, Linux.
In the list: Best offline note-taking apps that keep plain files
| Free tier | Entirely free |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| Offline | Yes, local files |
Close in price
| Product | Best for | Per month, yearly plan | Checked | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplenote | Fast free plain notes | Free | November 1, 2026 | Visit |
| Joplin | Free open-source notes with encryption | Free | November 1, 2026 | Visit |
| Bear | Apple-only Markdown notes | $2.50 | November 1, 2026 | Visit |
| Obsidian | Local-first Markdown knowledge base | $4 | November 1, 2026 | Visit |