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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

Heynote

A dedicated desktop scratchpad split into blocks, with a built-in calculator.

Visit Heynote4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    macOS, Windows, Linux

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What is Heynote?

Heynote is a free desktop scratchpad that keeps one persistent text buffer divided into blocks, each with its own language and syntax highlighting. Maths blocks work as a calculator with variables and unit conversions, and you can organise extra buffers into folders saved as files on disk.

Pros: what Heynote does well

  • New blocks with a single shortcut
  • Calculator blocks with unit conversion
  • Buffers saved as local files

Cons: where it falls short

  • No mobile app or cloud sync
  • Source-available licence rather than fully open source

Who Heynote is for

Developers and power users who want one place for snippets, JSON and quick sums.

Who can skip it

People who need structured notes that sync between phone and desktop.

Heynote alternatives

Not sold on Heynote? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Note-Taking resources

jrnl

Focus: journal, daily log and command line. Shares plain text with Heynote. Rated 4.5 (Heynote: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.5Visit

cheat

Focus: cheatsheet, command line and reference. Also in Personal Productivity and Note-Taking, like Heynote. Rated 4.4 (Heynote: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.4Visit

Ghostty

Focus: terminal, emulator and gpu. Shares developer tools with Heynote. Rated 4.9 (Heynote: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.9Visit

Snipd

Focus: Podcasts, AI and Learning. Also in Note-Taking and Personal Productivity, like Heynote. A mobile app, not a desktop app. Freemium (Heynote: Free). Adds iOS and Android. Rated 4.7 (Heynote: 4.6).

Mobile AppFree planiOS, Android
4.7Visit

brag

Focus: launch video, cli and open source. Shares developer tools with Heynote. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit

Mem.ai

Focus: AI, notetaking and knowledge management. Also in Note-Taking and Personal Productivity, like Heynote. An AI tool, not a desktop app. Freemium (Heynote: Free). Adds Web and iOS. Same 4.6 rating.

AI ToolFree planWeb, iOS
4.6Visit

Free alternatives to Heynote

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

QOwnNotes

Focus: markdown notes, nextcloud and open source. Shares plain text with Heynote. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

Wake

Focus: ai agents, sessions and rust. Shares developer tools with Heynote. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

ProtectedText

Focus: encrypted notes, notepad and privacy. Also in Note-Taking and Personal Productivity, like Heynote. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web and Android. Rated 4.4 (Heynote: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb, Android
4.4Visit

Google Keep

Focus: quick capture, free and simple. Also in Note-Taking and Personal Productivity, like Heynote. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web, Android and iOS. Rated 4.2 (Heynote: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb, Android
4.2Visit
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