Obsidian
Focus: local-first, zettelkasten and plugins. Shares markdown with Glyph. Freemium (Glyph: Free). Adds Windows, Linux and iOS. Rated 4.8 (Glyph: 4.3).
Desktop AppFree planmacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Desktop App
Glyph
A private desktop workspace for notes, documents and ideas, with Markdown and built-in AI.
Rating
4.3 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Beginner
Works on
macOS
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is Glyph?
Glyph is a private desktop workspace for notes, documents and ideas, with Markdown editing and built-in AI tools.
Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.
Pros: what Glyph does well
- Private, local-first notes
- Markdown editing with AI built in
- Open source
Cons: where it falls short
- AGPL-3.0 licence has strict terms for modified versions
- Mac-focused
Who Glyph is for
Writers and thinkers who want a private notes app with AI.
Who can skip it
People who need team collaboration.
Glyph alternatives
Not sold on Glyph? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
Bear
Focus: apple, tags and minimal. Shares markdown with Glyph. An iOS app, not a desktop app. Freemium (Glyph: Free). Adds iOS. Rated 4.6 (Glyph: 4.3).
iOS AppFree planiOS, macOS
4.6Visit
Reor
Focus: AI, PKM and Semantic Search. Shares Notes and Markdown with Glyph. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.5 (Glyph: 4.3).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit
Foam
Focus: wikilinks, backlinks and vs code. Shares notes and markdown with Glyph. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.4 (Glyph: 4.3).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.4Visit
SilverBullet
Focus: wiki, self-hosted and open source. Shares markdown and notes with Glyph. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.6 (Glyph: 4.3).
Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.6Visit
UpNote
Focus: notebooks and journal. Shares notes and markdown with Glyph. A mobile app, not a desktop app. Freemium (Glyph: Free). Adds iOS, Android and Windows. Rated 4.6 (Glyph: 4.3).
Mobile AppFree planiOS, Android
4.6Visit
Free alternatives to Glyph
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
Rentry
Focus: pastebin and sharing. Shares markdown and notes with Glyph. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.4 (Glyph: 4.3).
Web AppFreeWeb
4.4Visit
Trilium Notes
Focus: knowledge base, self-hosted and open source. Shares notes with Glyph. Adds Windows, Linux and Web. Rated 4.6 (Glyph: 4.3).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit
MarkText
Focus: editor, writing and open source. Shares markdown with Glyph. Adds Windows, Linux and Offline. Rated 4.5 (Glyph: 4.3).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit
nb
Focus: bookmarks, command line and open source. Shares notes with Glyph. Adds Linux, Windows and Offline. Rated 4.5 (Glyph: 4.3).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.5Visit
claude-obsidian
Focus: obsidian, claude code and second brain. Shares notes with Glyph. An AI tool, not a desktop app. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.8 (Glyph: 4.3).
AI ToolFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Memos
Focus: quick notes, self-hosted and journaling. Shares markdown with Glyph. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.7 (Glyph: 4.3).
Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.7Visit
Are you the maker of Glyph?Get a free Featured badge for your site, a share image and ready-to-paste posts. No sign-up.
New · updated daily
What people are actually doing with AI
Real use cases shared on Reddit, Hacker News, X, GitHub and blogs, summarised in plain words with a link to every original post.
Free Notion database
1,100+ ways people are making money online
Real online businesses, creators and projects, broken down by how they make money: apps, online stores, AI tools and more. Free on Gumroad.
Get the free databaseFree Notion database
399+ ways to make money online
Hundreds of online income methods in one place, so you can compare options and pick one to try. Free on Gumroad.
Get the free listFor research and ideas only. Results vary and nothing here is a promise of income. See our Disclaimer.
Weekly newsletter
Everything new, every Monday.
One short email every Monday with everything shipped that week: new free tools and websites, new guides, new free browser tools and what's new in my free Gumroad libraries, plus how the site is growing. Free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
Join the newsletterYou sign up on Gumroad, which stores your email to send the newsletter. See our Privacy Policy.