“Stores every note as an ordinary .md file.”
“Works completely offline.”
“No account or cloud subscription required.”
“Supports backlinks, graph view, tags, templates and thousands of plugins.”
“Data ownership: Excellent. Your notes remain accessible even if Obsidian disappears.”
“Obsidian: Best overall experience, extensibility and knowledge management.”
“Obsidian | All major platforms | Yes | Yes | No”
“### 7. Zettel Notes — Another Android option”
“Stores notes as individual Markdown files.”
“Works offline.”
“Data ownership: Excellent.”
“### 2. — Best for straightforward file ownership”
“Stores notes directly as .md files.”
“Free and open source.”
“Works offline.”
“Data ownership: Excellent.”
“One particularly nice feature: you can open and edit your notes with any other text editor without importing or exporting anything.”
“QOwnNotes: Best if you want simple, traditional Markdown files and minimal dependence on an application.”
“### 3. — Best for Apple users”
“Stores notes as Markdown and plain-text files.”
“Works offline.”
“Open source.”
“Data ownership: Excellent.”
“### 4. HelixNotes — Interesting newer alternative”
“Stores notes as ordinary .md files.”
“Free and open source.”
“Supports Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.”
“Built-in version history and backup functionality.”
“Data ownership: Excellent.”
“HelixNotes: Best if you want a modern, open-source Markdown application with built-in features and local-first architecture.”
“### 5. Zettlr — Best for research and academic writing”
“Excellent citation and bibliography support.”
“Integrates with Zotero.”
“Data ownership: Excellent.”
“### 6. Markor — Best for Android”
“Stores notes as local text files.”
“Works entirely offline.”
“Open source.”
“Data ownership: Excellent.”
“It is more of a lightweight Markdown editor than a sophisticated knowledge-management system.”