Your notes, one file, on your Mac.
No account, no cloud, no tracking.
Plainkeep is a Markdown notes app for macOS. Every note you write goes into a single file on your Mac that you can read, back up, sync and move like any other file.
macOS 12 Monterey or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel.
What Plainkeep saves
What it does
- Markdown as you type. Headings, lists and quotes are styled in place, and the markers stay where you put them.
- Folders, pins and a Trash. Notes are listed by folder and title, pinned ones first. Deleting goes to the Trash, and emptying it asks first.
- Search every note. ⌥⌘F searches across all of them; ⌘F finds and replaces inside one.
- Keyboard first. Every action is in the menu bar with a shortcut, so you can write all day without reaching for the mouse.
- Sync without an account. Put the file in iCloud Drive or Dropbox and open it on your other Mac. If both change it at once, Plainkeep keeps both versions.
- Set it up your way. Five monospaced fonts, size, width, line length and margins, in Light, Dark or Auto.
- Lock it with a password. With Pro, the file is encrypted as an AES-256 ZIP that only your password opens.
What it does not do
There is no account to make and no server of ours that your notes pass through. The app has no analytics, crash reporting or update checks. It connects to the internet only to activate or deactivate a Pro licence key.
Not in this version: images, a Markdown preview, tags, subfolders, or apps for iPhone, Windows and Linux.
Price
Free
$0
- Up to 20 notes, not counting the Trash
- Every feature except the lock and the Cousine font
Pro
$19.99 once
- Unlimited notes
- Password lock and the Cousine font
- One key works on up to 3 Macs
Reaching the limit never deletes or hides a note; the next one just waits until you upgrade. Refunds within 30 days, no questions asked.
Questions
- Where are my notes?
-
In
~/Library/Application Support/app.plainkeep.mac/db.json, or wherever you moved the file in Settings. - What if I stop using Plainkeep?
- Your notes stay readable. The file is plain JSON, and the text of every note is in it exactly as you typed it.
- Does Pro need the internet?
- Only to activate the key, and to deactivate it if you move to another Mac.
- How do I move Pro to a new Mac?
- Open Settings on the old Mac and choose Deactivate, then enter the key on the new one.