Local-first · Markdown · macOS / Win / Linux
A local-first Markdown notes app for connected thinking.
Built for writers and researchers who want their notes linked, local, and theirs. Write offline, connect ideas with wiki-links and backlinks, and organize your vault with table, board, and calendar views — no plugins to wrangle, no lock-in.
14 days free · no card required.
- Signed + notarized on macOS
- No card required to start
- Export to plain Markdown anytime
- EU-hosted cloud sync
- 30-day full account deletion
The whole workspace at a glance — your notes, your editor, and a live preview, side by side.
Inside the editor
Markdown that does more than text.
Math, code, diagrams, images, tables — all rendering live as you type. No setup, no plugin store, no waiting for the preview to catch up.
Make it yours
Nine themes, light and dark.
A few of the looks NoteLace ships with — switch from Settings ▸ Appearance in a click. Or stick with Classic Light; it’s the default for a reason.
How it works
From sign-up to your first note in minutes.
Sign up & download
Create your account, start your 14-day trial, and grab the app for macOS, Windows, or Linux. Takes about a minute.
Write in Markdown
Write in clean, standard Markdown. Link as you go, drop in math and diagrams, and watch it render live as you type.
Sync or stay local
Flip on sync to mirror across your devices — or keep everything offline on your machine. Entirely your call.
What's inside
Thoughtful tools that stay out of your way.
Your notes live on your machine
Everything is stored locally on your device and works fully offline. Write on a plane, in a tunnel, anywhere — and nothing ever leaves until you decide to turn on sync.
How local-first works →Connect ideas as you write
Type [[ to link any note — titles autocomplete, and the Inspector quietly shows everything that points back. Watch your research weave itself together.
Markdown, wiki-links & backlinks →Optional AI, on your terms
Select text to improve, summarize, or continue it — with a local model (Ollama) or your own API key. NoteLace never runs the model or sees your notes; the AI talks only to the provider you choose.
How private AI works →See your notes your way
Turn note properties into saved views, then filter, sort, and group them as a table, board, or calendar.
Explore database views →Live preview that keeps up
Math, Mermaid diagrams, and syntax-highlighted code render the moment you type them, right beside the editor.
Gentle nudges to keep going
A year-long writing heatmap, streaks and daily goals, plus a vault-health panel that flags orphans and broken links before they pile up.
Never lose a sentence
Automatic snapshots on every save — peek at any earlier version and bring it back with a single click.
A journal, when you want one
One keystroke opens today’s note from your template. Switch on a sidebar calendar to jump to any day — it stays off until you ask for it.
Encrypt your notes end-to-end
Switch on encryption and your notes — text and images — are sealed on your device before they sync, so the server only ever sees ciphertext. A passphrase unlocks them, with a 24-word recovery phrase as your backup.
How it compares
Whatever you’re switching from, you’ll feel at home.
Bring your Markdown
Already have a pile of notes? Import your existing Markdown and keep writing in a format you already know.
Useful out of the box
Backlinks, database views, live preview, search-inside-images, saved searches, publish-to-web — every feature is built right in. Nothing to install, no config to babysit.
Every desktop OS
A native app for macOS, Windows, and Linux — at home wherever you work, not locked to one platform.
Never locked in
Export your whole vault to Markdown whenever you want. Leaving is always one click away — your words are never trapped.
What you can count on
Your notes, your terms — always.
Standard Markdown format
You write in plain, portable Markdown — the same format the whole ecosystem uses. No proprietary syntax to learn or get stuck in.
One-click export, no lock-in
Take everything with you whenever you want. Export your entire vault as a Markdown zip — one .md per note — from Settings → Insights → Vault snapshot.
Local-first & private
Nothing leaves your machine until you choose to enable sync. Offline is the default here, not a fallback. An optional 4–6 digit app lock + idle auto-lock gates the window for the times you walk away from your laptop.
Hosted cloud sync
When you want it, optional cloud sync runs on hosted CouchDB — each account gets its own private database, mirroring notes across your devices. Unlimited notes, 15 GB of storage.
Transparent trial
14 days free, no card required. Keep editing for €5/month or €48/year — and if you ever stop, your notes stay readable and exportable.
From the maker
I built NoteLace because I was tired of fighting my notes app instead of writing in it.
I had Obsidian set up just how I liked it — until a plugin broke after an update, or I lost another evening stitching plugins together and editing config files just to get backlinks and a decent preview. The tools were powerful, but I spent more time maintaining my setup than using it.
So I made the app I actually wanted: the good parts — wiki-links, backlinks, database views, live preview — built in and working from the first note. Nothing to install, nothing to configure, nothing to babysit. It stays local-first and plain Markdown, so your notes are always yours and never locked in.
That's the whole idea — a calm place to write that just works, and stays out of your way.
— Willem, maker of NoteLace
One simple plan — €5/month or €48/year (save 20%) · 14-day free trial, no card required
See full pricing →FAQ
Good questions, honest answers.
- Why isn’t there a free tier?
- One paid plan keeps NoteLace sustainable and lets us ship every feature to everyone — no upsells, no crippled “free” version. The 14-day trial lets you try the whole app before you pay.
- What happens when the trial ends?
- Editing pauses until you subscribe (€5/month or €48/year) — but nothing is locked away. You can keep reading your notes and export your whole vault to Markdown any time.
- Is a card required to start?
- No. The 14-day trial is completely card-free — sign up and start writing. You only add a card if you choose to subscribe.
- Do I own my data? Can I export it?
- Always. You write in standard Markdown, and you can export your whole vault to a Markdown zip (one .md per note) any time from Settings → Insights → Vault snapshot.
- Which platforms are supported?
- NoteLace runs as a desktop app on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Give your ideas a calmer home.
Start your 14-day free trial — create your account and you’ll be writing in minutes. No card required.