🪶 Quillpad
Local-first markdown notes — your knowledge base is a folder of plain .md files you own.
Notion charges $12/month per seat and keeps your notes in their cloud, in their format. Obsidian is free but charges monthly for sync. Quillpad is a fast, beautiful desktop notes app where every note is a real markdown file in a folder you picked — wikilinks, backlinks, tags, daily notes, global quick capture — and your entire "knowledge base" outlives every notes startup.
Quillpad screenshot is being captured — the app is shipped and real.
Features
Your vault is just a folder
Notes are real .md files, folders are folders. Edit them in any other app — Quillpad watches the disk and refreshes live.
Live-styled markdown editor
CodeMirror 6 with inline preview styling — sized headings, rendered bold/italic, highlighted code. Ctrl+E toggles full preview.
[[Wikilinks]] + backlinks
Type [[ for fuzzy autocomplete over every note; aliases supported; missing notes are created on click. Every note shows who links to it, with context.
Tags
#hashtags anywhere appear in the sidebar — click to filter.
Full-text search + quick switcher
Instant search with highlighted matches across the vault; Ctrl+P jumps to any note, recent first.
Daily notes
Ctrl+D opens (or creates) today's daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md.
Global quick capture
Ctrl+Shift+N from anywhere in Windows pops a tiny window; Enter appends to inbox.md.
100% local
No account, no cloud, no database, no telemetry, no network calls — ever.
Quillpad vs Notion
Notion at $12/mo per seat runs roughly $144/year — $288 over two years. Quillpad is $29, once.
| Quillpad | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29 once | $12/mo per seat |
| Cost after 3 years | $29 | $432 |
| Your data | Plain .md files in your folder | Their cloud, their format |
| Works offline | Always | Partially |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Export needed to leave | Never — it's already files | Yes |
| Wikilinks + backlinks | Yes | Linked mentions |
| Telemetry | None | Yes |
Two and a half months of one Notion seat pays for Quillpad — and your notes stop being hostages.
Three steps, no subscription
Buy once on Whop
One-time $29 for the signed one-click Windows installer with auto-updates.
Point it at a folder
Use the starter vault under Documents or pick any existing folder of markdown — it just works, live.
Write, link, capture
Wikilinks with autocomplete, backlinks with context, daily notes on Ctrl+D, and quick capture from anywhere in Windows.
Honest answers
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/quillpad-notes, always. $29 buys the signed installer with auto-updates.
How do I sync between machines?
Your vault is a plain folder, so any file sync works: Dropbox, Google Drive, Syncthing, git. There's no built-in sync service — that's a feature, not a gap: it's why there's no account and no monthly fee. If you want turnkey encrypted mobile sync, Obsidian Sync is good at that.
Can it replace Notion databases?
No — Quillpad is notes, links and tags, not tables, kanbans and formulas. If your workspace is really a database app, Notion earns its seat fee. If it's actually a pile of documents, files are better.
What happens if Quillpad disappears?
Nothing — your notes are already plain markdown files in your own folder. Open them in anything. That's the whole point.
Is there a mobile app?
No — Quillpad is a desktop app (Windows installer; MIT source builds on macOS/Linux). On your phone, any markdown editor pointed at your synced folder works with the same files.
Deep-dive comparisons:
Own Quillpad forever
$29 once. Signed installer, 1-click setup, updates included. No renewal, no account with us, no meter. Or build it yourself from the MIT source — it's the same app.