Files, not a database
Notes live as readable .md files in a folder you choose. Back them up, version them in git, or open them in any other editor. Margin claims no lock-in.
Local-only · plain text · yours
The notebook that never phones home.
Margin keeps every note as a plain Markdown file on your own disk. No account, no cloud, no sync server reading over your shoulder.
Status:
Users — count to confirm
Reviews — none collected yet
Press — placeholder
Built on one stubborn idea: your notes are nobody's data.
Every design decision falls out of staying local. No telemetry to disable, because there is none to begin with.
Private by construction
There is no login and no server, so there is nothing to breach and no one to subpoena. What stays on your disk is the whole story.
Plain Markdown
Write in a format that will still open in thirty years. Headings, lists, tables, code — no proprietary blob, no migration the day the app dies.
Works on a plane
Margin never needs the network. Open it in a tunnel, a cabin, or airplane mode — it behaves identically, because it was never reaching out.
Three steps, then you forget we exist.
No onboarding wizard, no "connect your account." Point Margin at a folder and start typing.
1
Pick a folder
Choose any directory on your machine — new or full of notes you already have. Margin treats it as the vault and touches nothing outside it.
~/notes/2
Write in Markdown
Type. Every keystroke saves to a real file on disk. There is no "syncing" spinner because there is nowhere for it to sync to.
today.md → saved3
Own the result
Search, move, or back up the files with the tools you already trust. Delete Margin tomorrow and every note is still right there, plain text.
grep "idea" ~/notes/Questions, answered plainly.
If something here is unclear, that itself is a bug — Margin is meant to be obvious.
Where exactly are my notes stored?
In a folder you choose, as individual Markdown files. Margin reads and writes only inside that folder. There is no hidden cloud copy and no separate database — what you see in the file browser is the whole truth.
Is there any account or sign-up?
No. There is no account, no email, no license server. You download the app and open a folder. We could not identify you if we wanted to, because nothing ever leaves your machine.
How do I sync between two computers?
Margin deliberately doesn't sync for you — but because notes are plain files, you can put the folder in any sync tool you already trust (a drive you control, git, an external disk). The choice of who sees your data stays yours.
What does it cost?
Pricing is not finalised — [price to confirm]. The local-only, plain-file core is the product's whole promise and is not paywalled behind a subscription server.
What happens if the project shuts down?
Nothing happens to your notes. They are ordinary Markdown files you already hold. No export step, no proprietary format to rescue them from — that is the entire point of building this way.